Semiconductor memory device for stably reading and writing data

ABSTRACT

In a semiconductor memory device, static memory cells are arranged in rows and columns, word lines correspond to respective memory cell rows, and word line drivers drive correspond to word lines. Cell power supply lines correspond to respective memory cell columns and are coupled to cell power supply nodes of a memory cell in a corresponding column. Down power supply lines are arranged corresponding to respective memory cell columns, maintained at ground voltage in data reading and rendered electrically floating in data writing. Write assist elements are arranged corresponding to the cell power supply lines, and according to a write column instruction signal for stopping supply of a cell power supply voltage to the cell power supply line in a selected column, and for coupling the cell power supply line arranged corresponding to the selected column at least to the down power supply line on the corresponding column.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/052,188 filed Feb. 24, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/263,307, filed Apr. 28, 2014, which is adivisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/325,945, filed Dec. 14, 2011,which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/457,936, filedJun. 25, 2009, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.11/492,031, filed Jul. 25, 2006, and which claims priority to JapaneseApplication No. 2006-143014, filed May 23, 2006 and Japanese Application2005-224258, filed Aug. 2, 2005, the contents of which are hereinincorporated in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, andparticularly to a construction of a static semiconductor memory devicethat can stably write and read data even under an operation condition ofa low voltage.

Description of the Background Art

When transistor elements are miniaturized according to progress ofminiaturization technology, voltage scaling according to theminiaturization is required from the viewpoint of reliability and powerconsumption of the elements. However, the miniaturization increases aninfluence on fluctuations in manufacturing parameters, so that athreshold voltage of transistors (insulated gate field effecttransistor) forming memory cells is greatly varied, and an operationmargin thereof lowers. Consequently, the semiconductor memory devicecannot stably and reliably write and read data with a low power supplyvoltage.

Various constructions have been proposed for the purpose of stablywriting and reading data even with a low power supply voltage.

A literature 1 (K. Zhang et al., “A 3-GHz 70 Mb SRAM in 65 nm CMOSTechnology with Integrated Column-Based Dynamic Power Supply,” ISSCC2005, Digest of Technical Papers, February 2005, pp. 474-475) disclosesa construction in which a level of a memory cell power supply voltage ischanged according to reading and writing of data for improving a staticnoise margin SNM and a write margin.

In Literature 1, a memory cell power supply voltage is controlled on acolumn-by-column basis, or in units of columns of memory cells. In adata write operation, the memory cell power supply voltage in a selectedcolumn is set to a low voltage of (VCC-LO), and the cell power supplyvoltages for the unselected columns are set to a slightly high voltageof (VCC-HI) similar to that in a read operation so that a static noisemargin in the read operation is improved, and a write margin is ensured.

A literature 2 (M. Yamaoka et al., “Low-Power Embedded SRAM Modules withExpanded Margins for Writing,” ISSCC 2005, Digest of Technical Papers,February 2005, pp. 480-481) discloses a construction in which a memorycell power supply line in a selected column is set to a floating statein a data write operation, and the memory cell power supply lines in theother, unselected columns are kept at a predetermined voltage levelsimilarly to that in a read operation. In Literature 2, a dummy bit lineis employed for producing a word line deactivation timing signal WOFFaccording to a dummy bit line potential, and a word line driver isdeactivated to drive a selected word line to an unselected stateaccording to the dummy line potential.

In the construction disclosed in Literature 2, a discharging transistorsetting a ground voltage level is provided for each word line separatelyfrom the word line driver. This discharging transistor is kept off in astandby state. When the selected word line is to be driven to aninactive state, the discharging transistor drives rapidly the word lineto the unselected state with its large current driving power. After theword line is driven to the unselected state, the power supply to thisword line driver is cut off so that a gate potential of the dischargingtransistor attains the L level according to the driver power supplyvoltage, and the discharging transistor is turned non-conductive.

A prior art reference 1 (Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-038557)discloses a construction in which a word line driver is formed using alevel conversion circuit, and a selected word line is driven with anamplitude different from that of the memory cell power supply voltage.Prior Art Reference 1 also intends to improve write and read marginseven when a threshold voltage of the memory cell transistor is varied,by converting the potential of the selected word line.

In the construction disclosed in Literature 1, the level of the memorycell power supply voltage is switched and controlled in units of memorycell columns, or on a column-by-column basis. Therefore, two kinds ofvoltages are required for the memory cell power supply voltage, whichresults in a problem that a power supply circuit becomes complicated forimplementing the two-power-supply construction.

Although the memory cell power supply voltage can be switched, theswitching voltage levels are fixed potentials produced by an internalpower supply circuit. Therefore, even when variations occur in thresholdvoltage of the memory cell transistor due to fluctuations in processparameters, the switching voltage level does not change in close linkagewith such variations, so that it is difficult to compensate for thechanges in threshold voltage, and it is difficult to ensure reliably thewrite and read margins when changes occur in electric characteristics ofthe memory cell transistors such as threshold voltages.

In the construction disclosed in Literature 2, the memory cell powersupply line in the selected column is set to the floating state in thedata writing, and thereby the power supply voltage of the memory cellsin the writing column, or write target column is lowered for insuringthe write margin. In Literature 2, improvement of the write margin andreduction of the power consumption is discussed, but no consideration isgiven to the improvement of the read margin in the case where thresholdvoltages of the memory cell transistors are varied.

In the construction disclosed in Prior Art Reference 1, the memory celltransistor is formed using a Thin Film Transistor (TFT), and the levelconversion circuit changes the potential amplitude of a selected wordline for improving the write and read margins even when variations occurin threshold voltage of the memory cell transistors. Specifically, inPrior Art Reference 1, when the data writing is to be performed, theselected word line is driven to a potential level higher than the memorycell power supply potential, and a current driving power of the accesstransistors of the memory cell is increased so that fast writing isperformed, and the write margin is ensured. In data reading, theselected word line is driven to a voltage level lower than a high-sidepower supply voltage of the memory cell. Thereby, the gate potential ofthe access transistors of the memory cell is lowered to lower theircurrent driving power so that the static noise margin is ensured toprevent data destruction in the data read operation.

In the construction disclosed in the Prior Art Reference 1, however, theoperation power supply voltage of the level conversion circuit issupplied separately and independently from the memory cell power supplyvoltage, and the shifted voltage level by the level conversion circuitis fixed and is not affected by the threshold voltage of the memorycell. In the Prior Art Reference 1, the power supply for the level shiftmust be arranged independently of and separately from the circuitry ofthe memory cell power supply, which complicates the construction of thepower supply related circuitry. The potential of the selected word lineis fixed, and therefore cannot flexibly follow the variations inthreshold voltage of the memory cell transistors.

In the data write operation, the selected word line is driven to thelevel higher than that of the memory cell power supply, and noconsideration is given to the stability of data of unselected memorycells that are connected to the selected row in the data writing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor memorydevice which allows stable reading and writing of data even with a lowpower supply voltage with a simple circuit construction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductormemory device that adjusts a selected word line potential while flexiblyfollowing a threshold voltage of a memory cell transistor, and therebycan ensure write and read margins even with a low power supply voltage.

A semiconductor memory device according to a first aspect of the presentinvention includes a plurality of static memory cells arranged in rowsand columns; a plurality of word lines, arranged corresponding to therespective memory cell rows, each connected to the memory cells in acorresponding row; and a plurality of word line drivers, arrangedcorresponding to the word lines, each for driving a corresponding wordline to the selected state according to a word line select signal. Eachword line driver includes a level shift element for shifting a voltagelevel of a driver power supply node to a voltage level lower than avoltage level of the driver power supply node. Each of the word linedrivers drives the corresponding word line to the shifted voltage levelof the voltage level of the driver power supply node by the level shiftelement when the corresponding word line is selected.

A semiconductor memory device according to a second aspect of thepresent invention includes a plurality of static memory cells arrangedin rows and columns; a plurality of word lines, arranged correspondingto the respective memory cell rows, each connected to the memory cellsin a corresponding row; a plurality of word line drivers arrangedcorresponding to the word lines, each for driving a corresponding wordline to a selected state according to a word line select signal; and aplurality of pull-down elements arranged corresponding to the respectiveword lines, each for lowering a voltage level of a corresponding wordline when the corresponding word line is selected.

A semiconductor memory device according to a third aspect of theinvention includes a plurality of static memory cells, arranged in rowsand columns, each including an access transistor and a drive transistorstoring data; a plurality of word lines, arranged corresponding to therespective memory cell rows, each connected to the access transistors ofthe memory cells in a corresponding row; a plurality of word linedrivers arranged corresponding to the word lines, each for driving acorresponding word line to a selected state according to a word lineselect signal; a plurality of active regions separated from each other,each continuously extending in a memory cell column direction so as tocross each of the word lines, and each electrically coupled to each ofthe word lines at a crossing point; and a plurality of replica gateelectrodes arranged for each of the active regions with a same pitch anda same layout as gate electrodes of the access transistors in the memorycell column direction. These replica gate electrodes are aligned in therow and column directions, and each word line is coupled to thecorresponding active region at a first side in the column direction ofeach of the replica gate electrodes.

The semiconductor memory device according to the third aspect of theinvention further includes a plurality of control signal linescontinuously extending in the column direction so as to cross each ofthe replica gate electrodes, electrically coupled to the replica gatesin the corresponding columns, and each transmitting a control signal tothe replica gate electrodes in the corresponding column; and a pluralityof cell ground lines electrically coupled to the respective replica gateelectrodes in each of the active regions at second sides opposite to thefirst sides in the column direction, and each for transmitting a groundvoltage.

A semiconductor memory device according to a fourth aspect of theinvention includes a plurality of static memory cells arranged in rowsand columns; a plurality of word lines, arranged corresponding to therespective memory cell rows, each connected to the memory cells in acorresponding row; a plurality of word line drivers arrangedcorresponding to the word lines, each for driving a corresponding wordline to a selected state according to a word line select signal; aplurality of cell power supply lines, arranged corresponding to therespective memory cell columns, each coupled to the cell power supplynodes of the memory cells in a corresponding column; a plurality of downpower supply lines arranged corresponding to the respective memory cellcolumns, maintained at the ground voltage level in a data read operationand turning into a floating state in a data write operation; and aplurality of write assist elements arranged corresponding to the cellpower supply lines, respectively, and according to a write columninstruction signal, for stopping supply of the cell power supply voltageto the cell power supply line on the selected column, and for couplingthe cell power supply line arranged corresponding to the selected columnto the down power supply line in at least the corresponding column.

A semiconductor memory device according to a fifth aspect of theinvention includes a plurality of static memory cells arranged in rowsand columns; a plurality of word lines, arranged corresponding to therespective memory cell rows, each connected to the memory cells in thecorresponding row; a plurality of word line drivers arrangedcorresponding to the word lines, each for driving a corresponding wordline to the selected state when a corresponding word line is addressed;a plurality of driver precharge circuits, arranged corresponding togroups each including a predetermined number of word lines among theplurality of word lines, each for supplying a voltage at a first voltagelevel to word line drivers in the corresponding word line group when aword line in a corresponding word line group is selected; and aplurality of level shift circuits arranged corresponding to therespective driver precharge circuits, each for shifting the voltage atthe first voltage level provided from the corresponding driver prechargecircuit to a lower voltage level.

In the semiconductor memory device according to the first aspect, thelevel shift element included in the word line driver is used to shiftthe level of the driver power supply voltage for transmitting thelevel-shifted voltage to the selected word line. Therefore, thepotential of the selected word line can be low in the read operation,and the conductance of the access transistor of the memory cell is smallso that the static noise margin in the read operation is improved, andthe device can stably read data.

Since only the level shift element is used, and a power supply dedicatedfor level shifting is not required, so that the power supplyconstruction can be simple. A level conversion circuit is not employedfor converting the voltage on the selected word line, which suppressesincrease in layout area of the word line drivers.

In the semiconductor memory device according to the second aspect, eachword line is connected to the pull-down element, and the potential ofthe selected word line can be lowered below the power supply voltage ofthe word line driver. Therefore, the static noise margin of the memorycell can be improved similarly to the semiconductor memory deviceaccording to the first aspect.

Since only the pull-down elements are used, a dedicated power supply forchanging the voltage on the select word line is not required, whichsimplifies the power supply construction.

Each word line is simply connected to the pull-down element, and a levelchanging circuit for changing the voltage level of the selected wordline is not required, which suppresses increase in layout area of theword line drivers.

In the semiconductor memory device according to the third aspect, thepull-down elements connected to the respective word lines are arrangedwith the same gate electrode pitch as the access transistors of thememory cells. The replica gate electrodes of the pull-down transistorsare aligned in the row and column directions. As compared with aconstruction using dummy cells, the pull-down transistor elements can bearranged more efficiently. Further, by turning on a required number ofpull-down transistors, the selected word line potential can be set to anoptimum level so that the static noise margin in the read operation canbe improved, and data can be stably read out.

In the semiconductor memory device according to the fourth aspect, thewrite assist element is used for electrically coupling the cell powersupply line in the selected column to the down power supply line andthereby lowering the level cell power supply line. Therefore, thedriving power of the load transistors in the memory cell decreases, butthe driving power of the access transistor does not change, and is thesame as that in the read operation so that the write margin can beincreased without impairing the read margin, and the fast writing can beachieved. The cell power supply line and the down power supply line areelectrically connected, and through the movement of electric charges, avoltage level of the cell power supply line is rapidly changed. Further,the voltage level of the cell power supply line is set to anintermediate voltage level through capacitance division, and the writemargin can be optimized.

In the semiconductor memory device according to a fifth aspect of theinvention, the level shift circuit for pull-down is connected to thedriver power supply line transmitting a voltage to the word line driver,and therefore the potential of the selected word line can be lowered viathe word line driver. Accordingly, the static noise margin of the memorycells can be improved in the read operation, similarly to thesemiconductor memory device according to the first aspect.

Further, the power supply voltage of the word line driver is simplyconfigured to be pulled down, and a power supply for changing thevoltage on the selected word line is not required so that the powersupply construction can be simple. The level shift circuit is arrangedfor being shared among the plurality of word line drivers so that it ispossible to reduce the number of level shifting elements and to suppressthe increase in array area.

The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of the present invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically shows a whole construction of a semiconductormemory device according to a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows an electrically equivalent circuit of a memory cell shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a construction of a word line driver shown inFIG. 1.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an operation of the word line driver shown inFIG. 3 and a static noise margin of the memory cell.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate changes that occur in voltage of the selectedword line and static noise margin of the memory cell when an absolutevalue of a threshold voltage of a memory cell transistor is made small.

FIG. 6 shows a modification of a word line driver according to the firstembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 schematically shows a whole construction of a semiconductormemory device according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 shows, by way of example, constructions of a word line driver anda pull-down element shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 shows an electrically equivalent circuit at the time of word lineselection in the second embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 10A and 10B schematically illustrate changes that occur in voltagelevel of the selected word line and static noise margin when theabsolute value of threshold voltage of the memory cell transistor islarge in the second embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 11A and 11B schematically show the selected word line voltage andimprovement of the static noise margin that are achieved when theabsolute value of threshold voltage of the memory cell transistor islarge in the second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a signal waveform diagram representing voltage changes onmain nodes of the semiconductor memory device of the second embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 13 shows a construction of a level shift element of a modificationof the second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 14 shows an effect of a position of the pull-down element in thesecond embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 15 schematically shows a modification of the pull-down element inthe second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 16 schematically shows a planar layout of the pull-down element andthe memory cell in the second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 17 schematically shows a construction of a word line driver and apull-down element according to a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 18 is a signal waveform diagram representing operations of the wordline driver and pull-down elements shown in FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 schematically shows a construction of a memory cell arrayaccording to a fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 20 shows, by way of example, constructions of a word line driverand a pull-down element shown in FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a signal waveform diagram representing operations of asub-word line driver and the pull-down element shown in FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 shows a modification of a pull-down element of a fifthembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 23 illustrates changes in voltage level of a selected word linedepending on changes in threshold voltage of the pull-down element shownin FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 shows a construction of a pull-down element of a modification ofthe fifth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 25 schematically shows a planar layout of the pull-down elementshown in FIG. 24.

FIG. 26 schematically shows a planar layout of a pull-down element of asecond modification of the fifth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 27 shows an electrically equivalent circuit of the pull-downelement shown in FIG. 26.

FIG. 28 schematically shows constructions of an array and a word lineselecting portion of a semiconductor memory device according to a sixthembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 29 shows, by way of example, a construction of a level shiftershown in FIG. 28.

FIG. 30 is a signal waveform diagram representing an operation for wordline selection of the construction shown in FIG. 28.

FIG. 31 schematically shows a construction of an array of a modificationof the sixth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 32 schematically shows constructions of an array and a word linedrive portion of a second modification of the sixth embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 33 shows a construction of a word line voltage adjusting circuitshown in FIG. 32.

FIG. 34 schematically shows a construction of a word line driver shownin FIG. 32.

FIG. 35 shows a planar layout of a word line voltage adjusting circuitshown in FIG. 33.

FIG. 36 shows an interconnection line layout in a layer above the planarlayout shown in FIG. 35.

FIG. 37 shows an interconnection line layout in a layer above theinterconnection line layout shown in FIG. 36.

FIG. 38 schematically shows a whole construction of a semiconductormemory device according to a seventh embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 39A and 39B show a specific construction of a pull-down element ofthe semiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 38.

FIG. 40 shows a construction of a main portion of a semiconductor memorydevice shown in FIG. 38.

FIG. 41 is a signal waveform diagram representing an operation of thesemiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 38.

FIG. 42 represents, on an enlarged scale, signal waveforms in a region Ishown in FIG. 41.

FIG. 43 shows an example of a construction of a portion generating acontrol signal shown in FIG. 40.

FIG. 44 shows a planar layout of active regions of memory cells andfirst metal interconnection lines according to a seventh embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 45 shows a layout of second metal interconnection lines in a layerabove the interconnection line layout shown in FIG. 40.

FIG. 46 shows a layout of third metal interconnection lines in a layerabove the planar layout shown in FIG. 45.

FIG. 47 shows a layout of fourth metal interconnection lines in a layerabove the interconnection line layout shown in FIG. 46.

FIG. 48 shows an electrically equivalent circuit of a memory cell in theinterconnection line layouts shown FIGS. 44-47.

FIG. 49 shows a planar layout of active regions of pull-down elementsand first metal interconnection lines according to a seventh embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 50 shows a planar layout of second metal interconnection lines in alayer above the interconnection line layout shown in FIG. 49.

FIG. 51 shows a planar layout of third metal interconnection lines in alayer above the planar layout shown in FIG. 50.

FIG. 52 shows a planar layout of fourth metal interconnection lines in alayer above the planar layout shown in FIG. 51.

FIG. 53 shows an electrically equivalent circuit of the pull-downelement in the interconnection line layout shown in FIGS. 49-52.

FIG. 54 shows a construction of a main portion of a semiconductor memorydevice according to an eighth embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 55A and 55B show specific constructions of a level shifter shownin FIG. 54.

FIG. 56 shows an electrically equivalent circuit of a word line driverpower supply portion in a data read operation of the semiconductormemory device shown in FIG. 54.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[First Embodiment]

FIG. 1 schematically shows a whole construction of a semiconductormemory device according to a first embodiment of the invention. In FIG.1, a semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array 1 havingmemory cells MC arranged in rows and columns. In memory cell array 1,memory cells MC are arranged in (n+1) rows and (m+1) columns. Word linesWL0-WLn are arranged corresponding to the rows of memory cells MC,respectively, and memory cells MC in each row are connected to the wordline in the corresponding row. Bit line pairs BL0 and /BL0-BLm and BLmare arranged corresponding to the columns of memory cells MC,respectively. As will be described later in detail, memory cell MC is astatic memory cell, and complementary data are transmitted tocomplementary bit line pair BLi and /BLi (i=0−m).

Bit line load (BL load) BQ is provided corresponding to each of bit linepairs BL0 and/BL0-BLm and BLm. In a data reading operation, bit lineload BQ pulls up a potential of the corresponding bit line, and suppliesa column current for reading memory cell data.

For driving an addressed word line in memory cell array 1 to theselected state, there are provided a row decoder 2 for producing a rowselect signal according to a row address signal RA, and a word linedrive circuit 3 for driving the selected word line to the selected stateaccording to the row select signal received from row decoder 2. Rowdecoder 2 receives a power supply voltage VDD as an operation powersupply voltage, and decodes internal row address signal RA to produce arow select signal.

Word line drive circuit 3 includes word line drivers WDR0-WDRn arrangedcorresponding to word lines WL0-WLn, for driving the corresponding wordlines to the selected state according to the row select signal receivedfrom row decoder 2, respectively. Each of word line drivers WDR0-WDRnreceives power supply voltage VDD as the operation power supply voltage,and performs level shifting (stepping down) of power supply voltage VDDto transmit the level-shifted voltage onto the corresponding word linewhen the corresponding word line is selected. Operations and effects oflevel shifting down of the word line select voltage will be describedlater in detail.

The semiconductor memory device further includes a column select circuit4 that selects the bit line pair corresponding to a selected columnaccording to an internal column address signal CA, a write circuit 5that transmits the write data to the bit line pair corresponding to thecolumn selected by column select circuit 4 in data writing, a readcircuit 6 that produces read data by sensing and amplifying the datasupplied from the bit line pair corresponding to the column selected bycolumn select circuit 4 in data reading, and a main control circuit 7that produces internal row address signal RA, internal column addresssignal CA and control signals required for various operations accordingto an address signal AD, a write instruction signal WE and a chip enablesignal CE that are externally applied. Main control circuit 7 produces aword line activation timing signal and a column select timing signal todefine operation timing and an operation sequence of row decoder 2 andcolumn select circuit 4.

Write circuit 5 includes an input buffer and a write drive circuit, andproduces internal write data according to externally applied write dataDI in data writing. Read circuit 6 includes a sense amplifier circuitand an output buffer. In data reading, the output buffer furtherperforms buffering on internal data sensed and amplified by the senseamplifier circuit, to produces external read data DO.

Write circuit 5 and read circuit 6 may write and read data of amulti-bit width, or memory cell array 1 may be configured to correspondto one bit of input/output data, and each of write and read circuits 5and 6 performs input or output of one bit of data. For writing andreading the multiple bits of data, memory cell array 1, write circuit 5and read circuit 6 shown in FIG. 1 are arranged corresponding to eachdata bit.

An array power supply circuit 8 supplies an array power supply voltageto a high-side power supply node of memory cell MC via a cell powersupply line PVL. Cell power supply lines PVL shown in FIG. 1 are dividedcorresponding to the memory cell columns, respectively. However, such aconstruction may be employed that array power supply circuit 8 suppliesthe array power supply voltage commonly to these cell power supply linesPVL, and cell power supply lines PVL are arranged in a mesh-like form tobe mutually connected in the row and column directions.

In this and subsequent embodiments, the array power supply voltage ofarray power supply circuit 8 is set to the same voltage level as powersupply voltage VDD supplied to word line driver WDR. However, thepresent invention can be applied to the case where the array powersupply voltage and the power supply voltage supplied to the word linedrive circuit are at different voltage levels, respectively. Array powersupply circuit 8 may be provided individually and separately from acircuit supplying the power supply voltage to peripheral circuits suchas word line drive circuit 3.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a construction of memory cell MC shown inFIG. 1. In FIG. 2, memory cell MC has a construction of a full-CMOSsingle-port SRAM cell. Memory cell MC has a P-channel MOS transistor(insulated gate field effect transistor) PQ1 that is connected between ahigh-side power supply node VH and a storage node ND1, and has a gateconnected to a storage node ND2; an N-channel MOS transistor NQ1 that isconnected between storage node ND1 and a low-side power supply node VL,and has a gate connected to storage node ND2; a P-channel MOS transistorPQ2 that is connected between high-side power supply node VH and storagenode ND2, and has a gate connected to storage node ND1; an N-channel MOStransistor NQ2 that is connected between storage node ND2 and low-sidepower supply node VL, and has a gate connected to storage node ND1; andN-channel MOS transistors NQ3 and NQ4 that couple storage nodes ND1 andND2 to bit lines BL and /BL according to the voltage on word line WL,respectively.

Word line WL is any of word lines WL0-WLn shown in FIG. 1, and bit linepair BL and/BL is any of bit line pairs BL0 and /BL0-BLn and /BLn shownin FIG. 1.

In the construction of memory cell MC shown in FIG. 2, MOS transistorsPQ1 and NQ1 form a CMOS inverter, and MOS transistors PQ2 and NQ2 form aCMOS inverter. These inverters have inputs and outputs cross-coupled, toform an inverter latch (flip-flop). Storage nodes ND1 and ND2 holdcomplementary data. Margins in the operations of reading and writingdata depend on a data holding capability of this inverter latch.

FIG. 3 shows an example of constructions of word line drivers WDR0-WDRnshown in FIG. 1. Since word line drivers WDR0-WDRn have the sameconstruction, FIG. 3 shows word line driver WDR as a representative ofthese word line drivers.

In FIG. 3, word line driver WDR includes an inverter 10 receiving a wordline select signal (decode signal) WS from row decoder 2, and a wordline drive stage 12 driving word line WL to the selected state accordingto the output signal of inverter 10. Inverter 10 receives power supplyvoltage VDD as an operation power supply voltage, and inverts word lineselect signal WS.

Word line drive stage 12 includes a P-channel MOS transistor PQ10connected at a first conduction node (i.e., a source node) to a nodereceiving power supply voltage VDD, a P-channel MOS transistor PQ11connected between MOS transistor PQ10 and word line WL and receiving anoutput signal of inverter 10 at a gate thereof, and an N-channel MOStransistor NQ11 connected between word line WL and the referencepotential node (which is at a ground potential level, and will bereferred to as a “ground node” hereinafter) and receiving the outputsignal of inverter 10 at a gate thereof.

MOS transistor PQ10 has a gate and a drain connected together, andoperates in a diode mode to lower power supply voltage VDD by anabsolute value Vthp of its threshold voltage. Owing to lowering of thethreshold voltage of the MOS transistor of one stage, the followingoperations can be performed even when power supply voltage VDD is as lowas 1.2 V, for example. Word line drive stage 12 operates to lowerreliably the voltage on the selected word line, and excessive loweringof the voltage on the selective word line is prevented to executereliably the reading and writing of data while maintaining the accesstransistors of the memory cell conductive.

The threshold voltage of MOS transistor PQ10 has characteristics similarto those of the P-channel MOS transistors (PQ1 and PQ2) of the memorycell, and changes closely in linkage with fluctuations in thresholdvoltage of the load transistors (P-channel MOS transistors PQ1 and PQ2)of memory cell MC. When word line WL is selected, it is driven to thelevel of voltage (VDD-Vthp), and the actual voltage level thereofchanges closely in linkage with fluctuations in threshold voltage of theload transistors of the memory cell.

FIG. 4A illustrates a voltage level of selected word line WL in the casewhere the load transistors (P-channel MOS transistors PQ1 and PQ2) ofthe memory cell have a threshold voltage large in absolute value, Vthp.FIG. 4A represents a signal waveform of word line WL in the case wherepower supply voltage VDD is 1.2 V.

FIG. 4B represents transmission characteristics of the memory cell inthe case where the load transistors of the memory cell have thethreshold voltage of absolute value Vthp of a large value Vthp1. Thesetransmission characteristics are input/output transmissioncharacteristics of two CMOS inverters forming the memory cell. In FIG.4B, curves ND1 and ND2 of solid lines represent transmissioncharacteristics of storage nodes ND1 and ND2 that are exhibited when theselected word line WL is at the level of power supply voltage VDD.Static noise margin SNM is represented by a diagonal of a square of asolid line located between curves ND1 and ND2.

When absolute value Vthp1 of the threshold voltage of the loadtransistors (PQ1 and PQ2) in the memory cell increases, the inputlogical threshold of the inverter in the memory cell shifts upward, andthe current driving power of the load transistor decreases. With thecurrent driving power of the access transistors (NQ3 and NQ4) the outputnode of one inverter is discharged more strongly, and the held data ismore likely to be destructed. Therefore, the data holdingcharacteristics deteriorate, and the width between transmission curvesND1 and ND2 represented by solid lines, i.e., static noise margin SNMbecomes small.

In this case, the absolute value of the threshold voltage of P-channelMOS transistor PQ10 arranged for level shifting in word line driver WDRincreases with absolute value Vthp1 of the threshold voltage of thememory cell load transistor, and the voltage level of selected word lineWL lowers (as indicated by voltage (VDD-Vthp1) in FIG. 4A. In this case,therefore, the conductance of the access transistors decreases, tosuppress the rising of the L level voltage of the storage node in thememory cell. Also, as represented by curves ND2A and ND1A of brokenlines in FIG. 4B, the transmission characteristic curves expand into alower left region. Thereby, static noise margin SNM increases asrepresented by a diagonal of a square of a broken line, and the readmargin is improved.

In the write characteristics of the data, the stability of the dataholding characteristics of the memory cell is small when absolute valueVthp of the threshold voltage of the load transistor in the memory celltakes large value Vthp1, and the write characteristics are improved. Inthe write operation, therefore, even when the voltage level of selectedword line WL is set to a voltage level lower than the voltage VDD, aninfluence on the write characteristics is suppressed because the writemargin is large. Thus, fast writing can be achieved.

FIG. 5A shows changes that occur in potential of the selected word linewhen the load transistors in the memory cell have the threshold voltageof a small absolute value. FIG. 5B shows input/output transmissioncharacteristics exhibited when the load transistor in the memory cellhas the threshold voltage of a small absolute value.

In FIG. 5A, it is assumed that the load transistors in the memory cellhave the threshold voltage of an absolute value Vthp2 smaller than theabsolute value Vthp1 of the threshold voltage as described above. Inthis case, in the word line driver, the threshold voltage Vthp ofdiode-connected MOS transistor PQ10 for the level lowering likewisetakes a value corresponding to the voltage Vthp2, and the selected wordline WL attains the voltage level corresponding to voltage of(VDD-Vthp2).

As shown in FIG. 5B, when the threshold voltage of the load transistorin the memory cell is small in absolute value, and the word line WL isdriven to the VDD level, static noise margin SNM is sufficiently largeas represented by curves ND1 and ND2 of solid lines, and the read marginis ensured. The current supplying capability of the load transistor isimproved, and charging of the storage node at the L level to the H levelvia the access transistor is suppressed. In the memory cell, the loadtransistors compensate for discharging by the drive transistors (NQ1 andNQ2) due to rise of the potential of the storage node, and the inverterlatch of the memory cell stably holds the data. Therefore, the readmargin is ensured as already described.

In this state, when the voltage level of selected word line WL lowers tothe voltage of (VDD-Vthp2), the conductance of the access transistorsslightly lowers, and the characteristics curves expands into the lowerleft region with respect to curves ND1 and ND2 of solid lines asrepresented by curves ND2B and ND1B of broken lines in FIG. 5B. Thus,static noise margin SNM is slightly improved.

Therefore, by employing the word line driver configured such that thethreshold voltage of diode-connected P-channel MOS transistor PQ10changes closely in linkage with the threshold voltage of the loadtransistor in the memory cell, the voltage level of the selected wordline shifts to a lower side when absolute value Vthp of the thresholdvoltage of the load transistor in the memory cell shifts to a higherside. Conversely, when the absolute value of the threshold voltage ofthe load transistor in the memory cell shifts to a lower side, thevoltage level of the selected word line shifts to a higher side.Therefore, when the absolute value of the threshold voltage of the loadtransistor in the memory cell shifts to a higher side to decrease staticnoise margin SNM, the voltage level of the selected word line lowerscorrespondingly, and the lowering width thereof increases so that thestatic noise margin SNM is improved. When absolute value Vthp of thethreshold voltage of the load transistor in the memory cell shifts to alower side, static noise margin SNM sufficiently increases, andimprovement of the static margin more than needed is not required. Inthis case, the voltage level of the selected word line lowers to a smallextent (voltage Vthp2), and the voltage level of selected word line WLlowers only to a level slightly lower than power supply voltage VDD.

When absolute value Vthp of the threshold voltage of the loadtransistors in the memory cell is low, the memory cell has large dataholding characteristics, and there is tendency that data writing isdifficult. In this case, however, the voltage level of the selected wordline is set to a higher voltage level so that the current driving powerof the access transistors is large, and the write margin is improved.

Therefore, the voltage level of the selected word line can beautomatically adjusted according to the fluctuations in thresholdvoltage of the load transistor in the memory cell. When the read marginis small, the voltage level of the selected word line is set low toimprove static noise margin SNM. When the read margin is large, thevoltage level of the selected word line is adjusted not to lowerexcessively, and the voltage level of the selected word line can be setto increase the write margin. Thus, it is possible to achieve the staticsemiconductor memory device that can operate more stably byautomatically correcting the voltage level of the selected word linewith respect to variations in threshold voltage of the load transistorsin the memory cell.

The load transistors PQ1 and PQ2 of the memory cell and thelevel-shifting MOS transistors of the word line driver are merelyrequired to have the threshold voltage characteristics variedsubstantially in linkage, and are not required to have completely thesame threshold voltage characteristics.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a construction of level-shifting transistorPQ10 in word line drive stage 12 included in the word line driver. InFIG. 6, level-shifting MOS transistor PQ10 includes a plurality ofdiode-connected unit P-channel MOS transistors PU0-PUk connected inparallel. Each of unit MOS transistors PU0-PUk has the same orsubstantially the same threshold voltage (Vth) characteristics as loadtransistors PQ1 and PQ2 included in memory cell MC. Specifically, a size(a ratio W/L of a channel width W to a channel length L) of each of unittransistors PU0-PUk is nearly 0.5 to 5 times larger than that of loadtransistors PQ1 and PQ2. Preferably, the above size is set to 0.8 to 2times larger than that of load transistor PQ1 or PQ2. Ideally, the unittransistor has the same size as load transistors PQ1 and PQ2 (the gatewidth is the same where these the gate length is the same). When thesize differs by one order of magnitude, it can be considered that adeviation occurs in linkage relationship of the electric characteristicsbetween the load transistor and the level-shifting unit transistor(i.e., in linkage relationship of fluctuations in threshold voltage),and the influence of fluctuations in threshold voltage of the loadtransistor cannot be accurately reflected in the voltage on the selectedword line. However, when the size differs by 0.5 to 5 times between thetransistors, the correspondence or linkage relationship can besubstantially ensured between the electric characteristics of the MOStransistors, and the fluctuations in threshold voltage of the loadtransistor in memory cell MC can be accurately reflected in the unitP-channel MOS transistor. Accordingly, the fluctuations in thresholdvoltage of the memory cell load transistor can be reflected in thethreshold voltage of level-shift MOS transistor PQ10.

The size ratio of the unit transistor to the load transistor ispreferably in a range from 0.8 to 2 for the following reason. Inmanufacturing steps, variations by about up to 10% is allowed withvariations in manufacturing parameter, mask alignment and others takeninto account. Therefore, the size ratio (the gate width when the gatelength is the same) may be 0.9 so that the lower limit is set to 0.8,allowing for a margin of 10%. As compared with the case where the gatewidth is large, there is a tendency that large fluctuations occur inthreshold voltage when the gate width is small. It can be consideredthat the linkage relationship with respect to the fluctuations inthreshold voltage of the load transistors becomes small when the ratioof the gate width (size) of the load transistor exceeds two, althoughthe linkage relationship is specifically affected by the specific gatewidth. Therefore, the size not exceeding two times is preferable.

Since the drive current quantity of word line drive stage 12 is setdepending on the driving speed of the word line, the number of the unitP-channel MOS transistors forming level shift element PQ10 isappropriately determined depending on the quantity of the required wordline drive current.

Unit transistors PU0-PUk are made the same in pattern layout andimpurity implantation conditions as load transistors PQ1 and PQ2. Thiscan further improve the linkage relationship between the thresholdvoltage characteristics of level-shift MOS transistor PQ10 and thethreshold voltage characteristics of load transistors PQ1 and PQ2, andthe voltage level of the selected word line attained by thelevel-shifting MOS transistor PQ10 can be accurately adjusted accordingto the fluctuations in threshold voltage of load transistors PQ1 and PQ2so that the voltage level of the selected word line can be accuratelycorrected according to the fluctuations in threshold voltage of the loadtransistors. Thus, the operation margin can be improved over a widerange with respect to the variations in power supply voltage,temperature conditions and process.

When the plurality of unit P-channel MOS transistors PU0-PUk are used aslevel-shifting transistor PQ10, there is a possibility that each elementis randomly subject to variations such as fluctuations of the impurityconcentration or variations in edge form of the layout or others.However, by connecting a plurality of transistors in parallel to formthe level-shifting transistor, the random variations can be averaged tocancel the random variations. By utilizing the transistors ofsubstantially the same size as load transistors PQ1 and PQ2 of thememory cells (preferably, transistors of the size between the equal size(0.8 time) and about doubled size (or of the size in a range from 0.5 to5 times) and achieving the same electric characteristics), it ispossible to average the characteristic variations of unit P-channel MOStransistors PU0-PUk even when transistors of small sizes are used, andthe voltage level of selected word line WL can be accurately correctedaccording to the variations in threshold voltage of load transistors PQ1and PQ2 of memory cell MC.

According to the first embodiment of the invention, as described above,the level-shifting element is used to lower the voltage level of theselected word line, and the read characteristics and writecharacteristics can be stably maintained against the threshold voltagevariations of the load transistors of the memory cells. In particular,by using the transistor having the same threshold voltagecharacteristics as the load transistors of the memory cell, the voltagelevel of the selected word line can be automatically corrected whileaccurately reflecting the variations in the load transistor of thememory cell.

The level-shifting element is simply used to shift the level of thedriver power supply voltage and to transmit the level-shifted voltage tothe selected word line, and the power supply related circuitry is thesame as the conventional power circuitry so that complication of theconstruction of the power supply circuits can be prevented.

In the construction shown in FIG. 3, each word line driver WDR isprovided with diode-connected P-channel MOS transistor PQ10 for levelshifting. However, P-channel MOS transistor PQ10 for level shifting mayshared among word line drivers WDR0-WDRn.

[Second Embodiment]

FIG. 7 schematically shows a whole construction of a semiconductormemory device according to a second embodiment of the invention. Thesemiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 7 differs in the followingconstructions from the semiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 1.

Word line drive circuit 3 includes word line drivers WDV providedcorresponding to word lines WL0-WLn, respectively. Word line driver WDVdoes not have a level shifting function. Word line drivers WDV receivepower supply voltage VDD as the operation power supply voltage, anddrive a selected word line among word lines WL0-WLn to the level ofpower supply voltage VDD according to the word line select signalapplied from row decoder 2.

Pull-down elements PD are arranged for word lines WL0-WLn, respectively.Pull-down element PD forms a resistance-dividing circuit together with acharging P-channel MOS transistor (PQ15) included in word line driverWDV and will be described later with reference to FIG. 8, and performsthe resistance division to set the voltage level of the selected wordline to a voltage level intermediate between the levels of power supplyvoltage VDD and the ground voltage.

Other constructions of the semiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 7are the same as those of the semiconductor memory device shown inFIG. 1. Corresponding portions are allotted with the same referencenumerals, and description thereof is not repeated.

In this second embodiment of the invention, the voltage level of theselected word line is at the divided voltage level throughresistance-division of power supply voltage VDD, and is lower than powersupply voltage VDD so that the read and write margins can be maintainedregardless of fluctuations in threshold voltage of the transistor of thememory cells, similarly to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows an example of constructions of word line driver WDV andpull-down element PD shown in FIG. 7. In FIG. 8, word line driver WDVincludes inverter 10 receiving word line select signal WS from rowdecoder 2, and P- and N-channel MOS transistors PQ15 and NQ15 forming aCMOS inverter that inverts the output signal of inverter 10 and drivesword line WL.

When word line WL is selected, word line select signal WS is at the Hlevel, and thereby the output signal of inverter 10 is at the L level sothat P-channel MOS transistor PQ15 is turned on to transmit power supplyvoltage VDD from the power supply node to word line WL.

Pull-down element PD includes an N-channel MOS transistor NQ20 operatingin a resistance mode. MOS transistor NQ20 has a gate and a drainconnected to word line WL, and has a source coupled, e.g., to a groundnode.

Therefore, when word line WL is selected, the on-resistance of MOStransistor PQ15 and the on-resistance of MOS transistor NQ20 form aresistance-dividing circuit, and word line WL is set to the voltagelevel corresponding to the division ratio thereof.

Pull-down transistor NQ20 is arranged in the memory cell array, and hasthreshold voltage characteristics similar to those of drive transistorsNQ1 and NQ2 in a memory cell. When the threshold voltages of memory celldrive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 lower, the threshold voltage of pull-downtransistor NQ20 likewise lowers to increase its driving currentquantity, and the on-resistance equivalently lowers. In this case, thevoltage level of the selected word line lowers correspondingly.

FIG. 9 shows electrically equivalent circuits of word line driver WDVand pull-down element PD when word line WL is selected. When word lineWL is selected, an on-resistance Rp provided by MOS transistor PQ15 isconnected between the power supply node and word line WL, and anon-resistance Rn provided by MOS transistor NQ20 is connected betweenword line WL and the ground node. Therefore, the voltage level of wordline WL is represented by VDD·Rn/(Rp+Pn).

FIG. 10A shows voltage changes of the selected word line that occur whenthreshold voltages Vthn of drive transistors (NQ1 and NQ2) of the memorycell are low. FIG. 10B represents input/output transmissioncharacteristics exhibited when the threshold voltages of memory celldrive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 are low. When threshold voltages Vthn ofmemory cell drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 are low, the threshold voltageof N-channel MOS transistor NQ20 of pull-down element PD likewise lowersto increase its current driving power, and the conductance equivalentlyincreases. Thus, on-resistance Rn lowers. Therefore, a voltage VWL ofthe selected word line is expressed by the following equation:VWL=VDD/(1+(Rp/Rn)).

Therefore, when on-resistance Rn of MOS transistor NQ20 becomes small,the voltage dividing ratio becomes small, and the voltage level ofselected word line voltage VWL lowers (the voltage drop quantityincreases), assuming that on-resistance Rn of MOS transistor PQ15 isconstant (i.e., assuming that fluctuation in threshold voltage of thetransistor of the word line driver is less closely in linkage with thatof memory cell transistors, and is much smaller than those of the memorycell transistors).

When the threshold voltages of drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 of thememory cell are low, the potential of the storage node on the H side inthe memory cell can be readily discharged so that a width between thevoltage transmission characteristics of nodes ND1 and ND2 becomes narrowas represented by curves ND1 and ND2 of solid lines in FIG. 10B, andstatic noise margin SNM becomes small. In this case, the voltage levelof word line WL is significantly lowered to decrease the conductance ofthe access transistors. This increases the resistance between the bitlines and storage nodes ND1 and ND2 in the memory cell, and rising ofthe potentials of storage nodes ND1 and ND2 is suppressed (i.e., pull-upof the storage node by the access transistor becomes weak at the time ofword line selection).

Accordingly, the discharge starts quickly in response to a small changein voltage level of the storage node as represented by curves ND2C andND1C, and the voltage transmission characteristic curves expand to thelower left region of curves ND1 and ND2 so that the width of theinput/output transmission characteristics becomes wide, and static noisemargin SNM increases. Accordingly, even when the threshold voltage ofthe drive transistor in the memory cell lowers greatly, the word linepotential lowers greatly correspondingly, and the conductance of theaccess transistor is made small, so that the data reading can be stablyperformed with a large read margin.

FIG. 11A represents voltage changes of selected word line WL that occurwhen threshold voltages Vthn of drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 of thememory cell are high. FIG. 11B represents the input/output transmissioncharacteristics exhibited when the threshold voltages of the drivetransistors of the memory cell are low.

When threshold voltages Vthn of drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 of thememory cell are large, the current driving capabilities are small, andthe on-resistances thereof are large. Therefore, the on-resistance ofN-channel MOS transistor NQ20 of pull-down element PD becomes largeaccording to the foregoing equation, and selected word line WL attains ahigh voltage level that is lowered a little from the power supplyvoltage.

As shown in FIG. 11B, when threshold voltages Vthn of drive transistorsNQ1 and NQ2 of the memory cell are high, the held potential level (i.e.,H level) does not change even when the L level potential of the storagenode among the internal nodes rises up, and accordingly, static noisemargin SNM is kept large. When the voltage level of selected word lineWL is lower than power supply voltage VDD, the conductance of the accesstransistor is made smaller corresponding to the voltage drop amount, andthe static noise margin is slightly improved. When threshold voltageVthn of the drive transistor in the memory cell shifts to a higher side,static noise margin SNM becomes sufficiently large, and excessiveimprovement is not necessary. In this case, the voltage on the selectedword line lowers to only a small extent, and the voltage level of theselected word line lowers only a little from power supply voltage VDD.

In the case where threshold voltage Vthn of the drive transistor in thememory cell is low, the write margin is inherently large so that noproblem arises even when the select voltage of the word line is set to alower voltage level. When threshold voltage Vthn of the drivetransistors in the memory cell shifts to a higher side, the voltagelevel of the selected word line shifts to a high side, and thus shiftsto improve the write margin.

FIG. 12 represents the voltage changes of the bit line and storage nodeduring data writing and reading in the second embodiment of the presentinvention.

In the data reading, when word line WL is to be driven to the selectedstate, pull-down element PD sets the selected word line voltage levelbelow power supply voltage VDD. According to the driving of word line WLto the selected state, bit lines BL and /BL are coupled to storage nodesND1 and ND2 of the selected memory cell, respectively, and the voltagelevels thereof change according to the storage data of the selectedmemory cell. The voltage of storage node ND1 or ND2 holding the L leveldata in the memory cell rises due to a column current flowing throughthe bit line. In this case, however, pull-down element PD sets thevoltage level of selected word line WL according to the thresholdvoltage of the drive transistors (NQ1 and NQ2), and the conductance ofthe access transistor is adjusted to ensure sufficiently the staticnoise margin SNM of the memory cell, so that the data can be readstably, and the data destruction does not occur.

In the data write operation, pull-down element PD likewise lowers thevoltage level of word line WL. In this case, one of bit lines BL and /BLis driven to the L level according to the write data. The voltage levelof the selected word line is set according to threshold voltage Vthn ofthe drive transistor in the memory cell so that the write margin issufficiently insured, and accurate and fast writing of data can beperformed.

The operation waveforms represented in FIG. 12 can be applied to thefirst embodiment. In this case, in place of the voltage drop of the wordline voltage by pull-down element PD, the level shift transistor (PQ10)of the word line driver performs the level adjustment of the word linevoltage according to the threshold voltage of the load transistor.

As described above, the pull-down element can adjust the voltage levelof the selected word line according to the fluctuations in thresholdvoltage of the drive transistor in the memory cell. Specifically, whenthe read margin is small (when the threshold voltage of the drivetransistor in the memory cell is low), the voltage level of the selectedword line is kept low to improve static noise margin SNM. Conversely,when the read margin is large (when the threshold voltage of the drivetransistor in the memory cell is high), excessive lowering of thevoltage level of the selected word line is prevented, and thereby fastwriting is achieved. Thereby, the voltage level of the selected wordline is automatically corrected against the variations in thresholdvoltage of the drive transistor in the memory cell, and correspondinglythe write and read margins of the memory cell are corrected so thatfurther stable operations of writing and reading data can be performedfast. This word line voltage adjusting operation can also be performedfor the write margin such that correction is effected on the variationsin threshold voltage of the memory cell drive transistor (i.e.,variations in write margin) due to process fluctuations.

[First Modification]

FIG. 13 shows a modification of the pull-down element according to thesecond embodiment of the invention. In the construction shown in FIG.13, pull-down element PD is formed of an N-channel MOS transistor NQ21receiving power supply voltage VDD on its gate. MOS transistor NQ21 hasa drain connected to word line WL and a source coupled to the groundnode. Word line WL is driven by word line driver WDV, of whichconstruction is substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 8.

In pull-down element PD shown in FIG. 13, MOS transistor NQ21 receivespower supply voltage VDD on its gate, and is normally kept on to pulldown the potential of word line WL by its channel resistance. Therefore,in the operation of driving the word line to the selected state, MOStransistor NQ21 is turned on before the potential of word line WL risesto or above threshold voltage Vthn of pull-down transistor NQ21, and thepull-down operation can start to function at an early time point.

The on-resistance of this MOS transistor NQ21 changes closely with thethreshold voltage of the drive transistor in the memory cell, andincreases (i.e., the current drive power decreases) as the thresholdvoltage of the memory cell drive transistor increases. Therefore, byusing the construction shown in FIG. 13, the voltage level of selectedword line WL can be adjusted according to the fluctuations in thresholdvoltage of memory cell drive transistors (NQ1 and NQ2), similarly to theforegoing construction shown in FIG. 8.

[Second Modification]

FIG. 14 schematically shows a construction of a second modification ofthe semiconductor memory device according to the second embodiment ofthe invention. FIG. 14 shows a pull-down element PDa arranged near wordline driver WDV as well as a pull-down element PDb arranged at an endremote from word line driver WDV. One of pull-down elements PDa and PDbis used.

When pull-down element PDa is arranged near word line driver WDV, thevoltage level of word line WL is set to the voltage level of(VDD·Rn/(Rp+Rn)) without an influence of a line resistance Rw1 of theword line. Therefore, the potential of word line WL can be set accordingto the value of on-resistance Rn of pull-down element PDa.

When pull-down element PDb having an on-resistance Rn is used, a voltageVWL1 on an end of word line WL near word line driver WDV is expressed bythe following equation:VWL1=VDD·(Rw1+Rn)/(Rp+Rw1+Rn).

A voltage VWL2 on the remote end of word line WL farther away from theword line driver is expressed by the following equation:VWL2=VDD·Rn/(Rp+Rw1+Rn).

Therefore, word line resistance Rw1 affects the potential of word lineWL, and makes it difficult to adjust accurately the select voltage levelof word line WL according to on-resistance Rn of pull-down element PDb.Therefore, it becomes difficult to adjust the voltage level of word lineWL according to the threshold voltage fluctuations of the drivetransistor in the memory cell. For correcting the select voltage levelof word line WL according to the fluctuations in threshold voltage ofthe drive transistor in the memory cell, therefore, it is preferable toarrange pull-down element PD as near to word line driver WDV aspossible, i.e., between the word line driver and the nearest memorycell, similarly to pull-down element PDa shown in FIG. 14.

When word line resistance Rw1 is small and affects the resistancedivision ratio of pull-down element PD only to a small extent, pull-downelement PDb at the remote end of the word line may be used. Bothpull-down elements PDa and PDb may be used.

Pull-down element PDa may have either a construction of MOS transistorNQ20 shown in FIG. 8 or MOS transistor NQ21 normally receiving powersupply voltage VDD on its gate as shown in FIG. 13.

[Third Modification]

FIG. 15 shows a construction of a third modification of the secondembodiment of the invention. FIG. 15 shows pull-down element PD andmemory cell MC. Pull-down element PD includes a plurality of unitN-channel MOS transistors NU0-NUk connected in parallel. Gates of theseN-channel MOS transistors NU0-NUk are connected to word line WL, orcommonly receives power supply voltage VDD. Unit N-channel MOStransistors NU0-NUk have the same threshold voltage conditions as drivetransistors NQ1 and NQ2 in memory cell MC. Thus, the impurityimplantation conditions, layouts or sizes (ratio, W/L of channel width Wto channel length L) of the channel regions of unit N-channel MOStransistors NU0-NUk are set as similar to those of drive transistors NQ1and NQ2 in the memory cell as possible. Therefore, these drivetransistors NQ1 and NQ2 as well as unit N-channel MOS transistorsNU0-NUk are formed in the same manufacturing steps. This enhances thelinkage relationship with variations in characteristic of drivetransistors NQ1 and NQ2 in memory cell MC, so that the select voltagelevel of word line WL can be corrected according to the variations inthreshold voltage of memory cell drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2, and theoperation margin can be improved over a wide range against variations inpower supply voltage, operation temperature conditions and process.

A resistance division ratio of the on-resistance (Rp) of the P-channelMOS transistor for charging in word line driver WDV and the resistancevalue (resistance value Rn) of pull-down element PD is usuallydetermined such that the select voltage level of word line WL may lowerabout 100 mV-200 mV.

Since the plurality of unit N-channel MOS transistors NU0-NUk are usedas pull-down element PD, there is a possibility that each element isaffected by random variations such as fluctuation of the impurityconcentration of each element or variations in edge form in the layoutor others. However, by connecting the plurality of transistors inparallel to form pull-down element PD, these random variations can beaveraged to cancel the random variations. The transistors ofsubstantially the same size (transistors having the size between theequal size and about doubled size, and achieving the same electriccharacteristics) are used as drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 in memorycell MC are utilized as the unit transistors. Thereby, even in theconstruction using the transistors of the small size, the select voltagelevel of word line WL can be accurately corrected according to thevariations in threshold voltage of drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 inmemory cell MC by averaging the characteristic variations of unitN-channel MOS transistors NU0-NUk.

The number of unit N-channel MOS transistors NU0-NUk is optimized toachieve the optimum resistance division ratio according to theresistance value of on-resistance Rp of the P-channel MOS transistor forcharging (i.e., charging P-channel MOS transistor) in word line driverWDV.

In pull-down element PD having the plurality of N-channel MOStransistors connected in parallel, it may be considered that theon-resistance is smaller than the combined resistance provided by theparallel connection. However, the voltage level of word line WL is setby the current driving power of the charging transistor included in wordline driver WDV and the combined current driving power of unit N-channelMOS transistors NU0-NUk included in pull-down element PD. Therefore, theselect voltage level of word line WL can be adjusted by adjusting thenumber of unit N-channel MOS transistors NU0-NUk included in pull-downelement PD, and correspondingly the select voltage level can be adjustedor corrected according to the fluctuations in threshold voltage of drivetransistors NQ1 and NQ2 in memory cell MC.

[Fourth Modification]

FIG. 16 shows a construction of a fourth modification of the secondembodiment of the invention. FIG. 16 shows a planar layout of pull-downelement PD and memory cell MC. In FIG. 16, memory cell MC includesactive regions AC4 and AC5 formed at an N-well region as well as activeregions AC3 and AC6 that are formed at P-well regions on the oppositeside of the N-well region, respectively. Load transistors (PQ1 and PQ2)are formed at active regions AC4 and AC5, respectively. Drive and accesstransistors NQ1 and NQ3 (or NQ2 and NQ4) are formed at respective activeregions AC3 and AC6.

Active region AC3 has a narrow region of a length W2 in an X directionand a wide region of a length W3 in the X direction longer than lengthW2. A polycrystalline silicon interconnection line line TG2 extends inthe X direction across the narrow region of active region AC3. Apolycrystalline silicon interconnection line TG3 extends in the Xdirection across the wide region. A contact CC3 for electricalconnection to bit line BL is formed at an end in the X direction of thenarrow region of active region AC3, and a contact CC6 for receiving aground voltage VSS is arranged at an end in the X direction of the wideregion. A contact CV3 electrically connected to a first metalinterconnection line FM1 is formed at active region AC3, and is locatedbetween polycrystalline silicon interconnection line lines TG2 and TG3.First metal interconnection line FM1 extends in the X direction toactive region AC4.

A contact CC7 for receiving power supply voltage VDD is formed at an endin the X direction of active region AC4, and a shared contact SCT1 isformed at the other end. Shared contact SCT1 has one end coupled toactive region AC4, and the other end thereof is connected to apolycrystalline silicon interconnection line TG4 extending in the Xdirection across active regions AC5 and AC6. Therefore, shared contactSCT1 has both the functions as a contact and an intermediate connectioninterconnection line. Shared contact SCT1 is also connected electricallyto metal interconnection line FM1 in an upper layer. Metalinterconnection line FM1 connects impurity regions (drains) of the loadtransistors, drive transistor (NQ1) and access transistor (NQ3) to thestorage node.

A shared contact SCT2 is formed at one end in the X direction of activeregion AC5, and is connected to polycrystalline silicon interconnectionline TG3. Shared contact SCT2 is also connected electrically to activeregion AC5, and is connected to a metal interconnection line FM2extending in the X direction. A contact CC4 for receiving power supplyvoltage VDD is formed at the other end of active region AC5. Apolycrystalline silicon interconnection line TG4 extending in the Xdirection across active region AC5 forms the gate of the loadtransistor.

A contact CC5 coupled to the ground voltage is formed at an end in the Xdirection of the wide region in active region AC6, and polycrystallinesilicon interconnection line TG4 extends in the X direction acrossactive region AC6. This polycrystalline silicon interconnection line TG4forms a gate of drive transistor NQ2. The other end of the wide regionthereof is connected to metal interconnection line FM2 via a contactCV4.

A polycrystalline silicon interconnection line TG5 extends in the Xdirection across the narrow region of active region AC6, and a contactCC8 is formed at the end of this narrow region for electrical connectionto complementary bit line /BL.

A metal interconnection line SM1 that extends in the X direction acrossmemory cell MC and is parallel to metal interconnection line lines FM1and FM2 is formed in a layer above these metal interconnection linelines FM1 and FM2. Metal interconnection line SM1 forms word line WL,continuously extends in the X direction, is coupled to the word linedriver and is also coupled to pull-down element PD. Metalinterconnection line SM1 is coupled at its portion protruding in the Ydirection to polycrystalline silicon interconnection line TG5 via avia/contact VV3, and is coupled at its portion protruding in a −Ydirection to polycrystalline silicon interconnection line TG2 via avia/contact VV2.

Owing to the connection by metal interconnection line SM1 forming theword line, the gates of the access transistors are connected to the wordline. Each of active regions AC3 and AC6 has the wide and narrow regionsformed, and has the memory cell drive transistor and the accesstransistor formed therein. The width in the X direction of each ofactive regions AC3 and AC6 corresponds to gate width W of thetransistor. Therefore, length W1 corresponds to the gate width of theaccess transistor, and length W3 corresponds to the gate width of thedrive transistor. Usually, gate width W3 of the drive transistor is setto a value 0.5 to 5 times (preferably, 0.8 to 2.0 times) larger thangate width W1 of the access transistor from the viewpoint of ensuringthe static noise margin of the memory cell,

Pull-down element PD is formed at active regions AC1 and AC2 which arespaced from each other and each of which has a rectangular formextending in the Y direction. These active regions AC1 and AC2 areformed in the P-well region. In the structure shown FIG. 16, the P-wellof memory cell MC extends to the region for forming pull-down elementPD, and memory cell MC and pull-down element PD share the P-well(because memory cell MC is adjacent to pull-down element PD). However,the P-wells separate from each other may be arranged for memory cell MCand for pull-down element PD, respectively.

Contacts CC1 and CC2 for receiving ground voltage VSS are formed at thelower ends in the Y direction of active regions AC1 and AC2, andvias/contacts CV1 and CV2 are formed at the other ends, respectively.These vias/contacts CV1 and CV2 are coupled to a metal interconnectionline FM3. A metal interconnection line SM1 forming word line WL extendsin the X direction across active regions AC1 and AC2, and is connectedat its portion protruding in the Y direction to a via/contact VVA. A viaVV1 is formed for a polycrystalline silicon interconnection line TG1,and connects polycrystalline silicon interconnection line TG1 to metalinterconnection line SM1. Thereby, such a construction is achieved ineach of active regions AC1 and AC2 that the gate and drain of thetransistor of pull-down element PD are connected to the word line.

A width W0 in the X direction of active regions AC1 and AC2 is betweenwidths W1 and W3 of the memory cell transistors. The gate of transistorin memory cell MC extends in the same direction (X direction) as thegate of the transistor of pull-down element PD. By arranging these gatesof the transistors parallel to each other, it is possible to exert thesame edge effect in photolithography, and variations in transistor formcan be suppressed. Also, it is possible to suppress occurrence of adifference in impurity implantation that may occur due to shapes of thegates in the impurity implanting process, and the difference intransistor characteristic can be suppressed. Thus, the transistorcharacteristics of pull-down element PD can be set substantially equalto the transistor characteristics of the memory cell (i.e., linkagerelationship can be achieved in variation in transistor characteristicsbetween the pull-down element and the memory cell transistor), and thevoltage level of the selected word line can be set accurately accordingto the variations in threshold voltage of the transistor in the memorycell.

In the foregoing description, the transistor that can follow thefluctuations in characteristic of the drive transistor in the memorycell is used for adjusting the voltage level of the selected word line.However, the pull-down element may be formed of the transistorsfollowing the variations in threshold voltage of the access transistorin the memory cell.

Specifically, when the threshold voltage of the access transistor in thememory cell lowers, the current driving power of the access transistorincreases, and the static noise margin of the memory cell lowers. Thus,the voltage on the selected word line lowers to cause lowering of theconductance of the access transistor and lowering of the current drivingpower, so that the reduction of the static noise margin is suppressed,and the read margin is improved. As for the data writing, when thethreshold voltage of the access transistor is low, the write margin isensured so that the write margin is sufficiently ensured even when theword line voltage lowers.

When the threshold voltage of the access transistor increases, thecurrent driving power of the access transistor lowers and the staticnoise margin is substantially insured. In this case, the thresholdvoltage of the pull-down element rises, and suppresses the voltagelowering of the selected word line so that excessive lowering of theselected word line voltage is suppressed. In the write operation, thewrite margin lowers according to the lowering of the current drivingamount of the access transistor, but the amount of the voltage loweringof the selected word line is small, so that the deterioration of thewrite margin is suppressed, and fast writing is achieved.

The transistors forming the pull-down element may be configured to havethe same electric characteristics as the drive transistors (NQ1 and NQ2)of the memory cell by employing the same impurity implantationconditions, layouts, sizes and others, whereby the on-resistance(equivalent on-resistance) of the pull-down element can be adjustedwhile accurately following the fluctuations in threshold voltage of thedrive transistor in the memory cell, and the automatic correction of thevoltage level of selected word line WL can be performed accurately.

Specifically, the size (a ratio of the channel length over the channelwidth, or the channel width when the channel length is the same witheach other) of the unit channel MOS transistor shown in FIG. 16 may havethe size in a range of the size 0.5 to 5 times, preferably about 0.8 toabout 2 times larger than the size of memory cell drive transistors NQ1and NQ2 or access transistors NQ3 and NQ4. This is because it can beconsider that, by employing the unit N-channel MOS transistor having thesize close to the size (a ratio between the gate width and the gatelength) of the access transistor and/or drive transistor, thesetransistors can have similar behavior of the electric characteristicssuch as threshold voltage fluctuations. When the size differs by oneorder of magnitude, it is considered that the linkage relationship inelectric characteristic between the unit transistor and the accessand/or drive transistor is small, and/or it becomes difficult to reflectthe fluctuations in electric characteristic of the drive transistor inthe pull-down element via the unit transistor,

Ideally, it is most preferable that the transistors have the same size(gate width), but the manufacturing steps are usually adjusted such thatthe variations in figure parameter of the transistors fall within therange of about 10% of variations. Even a normal manufacturing processmay produce a pull-down unit transistor having a size 0.9 time largerthan that of the memory cell transistor, and thus the lower limit of thesize is set to be 0.8 time larger that of memory cell transistor takingthe margin into account. In this case, the correspondence in fluctuationof threshold voltage can be ensured between the transistor of the memorycell and the pull-down transistor, and the selected word line voltagecan be set to suppress accurately the fluctuations in threshold voltageof the memory cell transistor.

As compared with the case where the gate width is large, there is atendency that the threshold voltage fluctuates greatly when the gatewidth is small. It can be considered that, when the gate width (size) ofthe pull-down unit transistor exceeds a doubled gate width (size) of theaccess transistor and/or drive transistor in the memory cell, theinfluence of the fluctuations in threshold voltage of the memory celltransistor is less reflected in the unit transistor, although thisreflection degree specifically depends on the gate widths of the accesstransistors and drive transistors. Therefore, the upper limit of thesize ratio is preferably two.

When the memory cell access transistor and the drive transistor have theequal gate lengths, the unit transistor of the pull-down element mayhave the gate width between the gate widths of the access transistorsand drive transistors. In view of the static noise margin, drivetransistors (NQ1 and NQ2) have gate widths larger than those of accesstransistors (NQ3 and NQ4) in many cases (assuming that the gate lengthsare the same), and the pull-down unit transistor may have the gate width(size) between the gate widths of these access and drive transistors. Inthis case, the size (gate width) of the pull-down transistor is close tothe sizes (gate widths) of the access and drive transistors, and thevoltage of the selected word line can be set while reflecting thefluctuations in threshold voltage of the access transistors and/or drivetransistors.

According to the second embodiment of the invention, as described above,the pull-down element is connected to the word line, and rising of theword line voltage level is suppressed so that the read margin can bestably ensured without an influence of variations in threshold voltageeven with a low power supply voltage.

[Third Embodiment]

FIG. 17 shows a construction of pull-down element PD according to athird embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 17, pull-down element PDincludes an N-channel MOS transistor NQ25 that is connected between aword line and the ground node, and receives a complementary writeinstruction signal /WE at a gate thereof. Word line driver WDV has thesame construction as word line driver WDV shown in FIG. 8. Correspondingportions are allotted with the same reference numerals, and descriptionthereof is not repeated.

Main control circuit 7 shown in FIG. 7 produces a complementary writeinstruction signal /WE, and the whole construction of a semiconductormemory device of the third embodiment of the invention is the same asthat shown in FIG. 7.

Complementary write instruction signal /WE is produced from writeinstruction signal WE, and attains the H and L levels in the data readmode and the data write mode, respectively.

FIG. 18 represents signal waveforms appearing on main nodes of theconstruction using the pull-down element PD shown in FIG. 17 in the readand write operations. In the data read operation, complementary writeinstruction signal /WE is set to the H level, and N-channel MOStransistor NQ25 in pull-down element PD is turned on. Selected word lineWL is driven to the voltage level determined by the ratio between theon-resistance of P-channel MOS transistor PQ15 in the drive stage ofword line driver WDV and the on-resistance of pulling-down N-channel MOStransistor NQ25. When the voltage on word line WL is low, the readmargin (static noise margin SNM) is sufficiently ensured and the data isstably held even when the potentials of bit lines BL and /BL shown inFIG. 7 change according to the storage data of the memory cell and acolumn current (bit line current) raises the voltage level of internalstorage nodes ND1 and ND2, and the data reading can be performed withoutdestructing the data. In this read operation, the margin is ensuredsimilarly to the first and second embodiments.

In the data writing, complementary write instruction signal /WE is setto the L level, and N-channel MOS transistor NQ25 for pull-down isturned off. In this case, charging P-channel MOS transistor PQ15 in wordline driver WDV drives the selected word line WL to the level of powersupply voltage VDD. Therefore, the voltage level of word line WL risesin the data write operation, and the write margin increases so that thedata writing can be performed fast.

In the data writing, the pull-down operation by pull-down element PDstops, and the word line voltage level in the data write operation canbe set to the power supply voltage level so that it is possible toprevent deterioration of the margin in the write operation andoccurrence of failure in data writing. Thus, in both data reading anddata writing, data can be stably read and written without an influenceof the variations in threshold voltage of the memory cell, whileensuring a sufficient margin.

In pull-down element PD shown in FIG. 17, MOS transistor NQ25 has thesame electric characteristics as the drive transistors (NQ1 and NQ2) inthe memory cell, and is configured to satisfy the same conditions aspull-down MOS transistors NQ20 and NQ21 in the second embodiment alreadydescribed.

According to the third embodiment of the present invention, as describedabove, the pull-down element is configured to stop the pull-downfunction in the data write mode, and can suppress lowering of thevoltage level of the selected word line in the data write operation. Inaddition, the voltage level of the selected word line can be lowered inthe data read operation so that sufficient margins can be ensured forreading and writing of data, and the data can be read and writtenstably.

The pull-down element may have the same construction as the pull-downelement in the second embodiment already described. The gate of thepull-down transistor element is coupled to the control signaltransmission line instead of the word line or the power supply voltage.

[Fourth Embodiment]

FIG. 19 schematically shows a construction of a main portion of asemiconductor memory device according to a fourth embodiment of theinvention. In FIG. 19, memory cell array 1 is divided into a pluralityof column blocks CBK0-CBKk. In each of column blocks CBK0-CBKk, memorycells MC are arranged in rows and columns, and sub-word lines arearranged corresponding to the memory cell rows. In FIG. 19, column blockCBK0 includes sub-word lines SWL00, SWL10, . . . and SWLj0 arrangedcorresponding to memory cell rows, respectively, and column block CBK1includes sub-word lines SWL01, SWL11, . . . and SWLj1 arrangedcorresponding to the memory cell rows, respectively. In column blockCBKk, sub-word lines SWL0 k, SWL1 k, . . . and SWLjk are arrangedcorresponding to the memory cell rows, respectively.

Main word lines MWL0, MWL1, . . . and MWLj are provided commonly to thememory cell rows of these column blocks CBK0-CBKk. Main word linesMWL0-MWLj are driven to a selected state according to the row selectsignal applied from row decode circuit 20 (corresponding to the rowdecoder in FIG. 1).

Sub-word line drivers SD00-SDjk are arranged corresponding to sub-wordlines SWL00-SWLjk, respectively. Sub-word line driver SDih (i=0, 1, . .. , j, h=0, 1, . . . , k) drives corresponding sub-word line SWLih tothe selected state according to the signal potential on correspondingmain word line MWLi and a block select signal BSh.

A block decode circuit 22 included in column select circuit 4 shown inFIG. 1 produces block select signals BS0-BSk according to column addresssignal CA, and the block select signal designating a column blockincluding the selected column is driven to the selected state (H level).

Pull-down elements PD00-PDjk are arranged corresponding to sub-wordlines SWL00-SWLjk, respectively. These pull-down elements PD00-PDjk areeach formed of an N-channel MOS transistor (NQ25), respectively. Amongpull-down elements PD00-PDjk, according to column block select signalsBS0-BSk and write instruction signal WE, the pull-down elements in theselected column block are set to the off state in the data writeoperation. Specifically, pull-down control gates G0-Gk are arrangedcorresponding to column blocks CBK0-CBKk, respectively. Pull-downcontrol gates G0-Gk receive block select signals BS0-BSk at their firstinputs, respectively, and receives write instruction signal WE at theirsecond inputs. Each of pull-down control gates G0-Gk produces a signalat the L level when a corresponding block select signal BSi is at the Hlevel indicative of the selected state and write instruction signal WEis at the H level indicative of the write mode.

Pull-down control gate G0 applies its output signal commonly to thecontrol gates of pull-down elements PD00, PD01, . . . and PD0 j incolumn block CBK0, and pull-down control gate G1 applies its outputsignal commonly to the control gates of pull-down elements PD01, PD11, .. . and PDj1 in column block CBK1. Pull-down control gate Gk applies itsoutput signal commonly to the control gates of pull-down elements PD0k-PDjk in column block CBKk.

In the data read operation, write instruction signal WE is at the Llevel, the output signals of pull-down control gates G0-Gk are at the Hlevel and pull-down elements PD00-PDjk are conductive regardless of thestate of block select signals BS0-BSk. When write instruction signal WEis at the H level, pull-down control gates G0-Gk operate as inverters,and pull-down control gate Gi corresponding to the selected column blockproduces the output signal at the L level so that the pull-down elementsin the selected column block is turned off. In the other, unselectedcolumn blocks, the block select signals are at the L level indicative ofthe unselected state, so that the corresponding pull-down control gatesproduce the output signals at the H level, and the pull-down elementsmaintain the conductive state to keep the corresponding sub-word linesat the ground voltage level (sub-word lines in the unselected blocks arein the unselected state).

FIG. 20 shows constructions of the sub-word line driver and thepull-down element shown in FIG. 19. FIG. 20 representatively showssub-word line driver SD and pull-down element PD arranged correspondingto one sub-word line SWL.

In FIG. 20, sub-word line driver SD includes an NAND circuit 25receiving a signal on corresponding main word line MWL and column blockselect signal BS (BS0-BSk), and P-channel MOS transistor PQ15 andN-channel MOS transistor NQ15 that form a CMOS inverter inverting theoutput signal of NAND circuit 25.

Pull-down element PD is formed of N-channel MOS transistor NQ25receiving, on its gate, a signal /(BE·WE) from the correspondingpull-down control gate.

As shown in FIG. 20, when sub-word line driver SD drives thecorresponding sub-word line SWL to the H level, both MOS transistorsPQ15 and NQ25 are turned on, and sub-word line SWL maintains the voltagelevel determined by the ratio between the on-resistances of these MOStransistors PQ15 and NQ25.

FIG. 21 represents signal waveforms appearing on main nodes during datawriting in the semiconductor memory device according to the fourthembodiment of the invention. Referring to the signal waveform diagram ofFIG. 21, description will now be given on the data writing operation ofthe constructions shown in FIGS. 19 and 20.

In the data write operation, write instruction signal WE is set to the Hlevel. According to the externally applied column address signal (CA),block select signal BS for a column block including the selected columnis driven to the selected state, and block select signals BS for theunselected blocks maintain the unselected state.

In the unselected block, as shown in FIG. 19, even when correspondingmain word line MWL is driven to the selected state, sub-word line driverSD generates the output signal at the L-level, and sub-word line SWLmaintains the ground voltage level. In the memory cell, therefore, theaccess transistor maintains the off state, and bit lines BL and /BL (notshown in FIG. 19) maintain the precharge voltage level. Storage nodesND1 and ND2 among internal nodes of the memory cell in the unselectedcolumn block are maintained at the potential levels of correspondingstorage nodes, and the voltage levels thereof do not change.

In the selected column block, column block select signal BS is “1” (Hlevel), and sub-word line driver SD drives corresponding sub-word lineSWL to the selected state according to the corresponding main word lineMWL (one of main word lines MWL0-MWLj). In this selected column block,pull-down control gate (one of gates GiG0-GiGk) produces the outputsignal at the L level to turn off pull-down element PD. Therefore,charging P-channel MOS transistor PQ15 (the transistor for charging)included in sub-word line driver SD charges selected sub-word line SWLto the level of power supply voltage VDD. In the data write operation,therefore, the write margin is sufficiently ensured, and the voltagelevels of storage nodes ND1 and ND2 in the memory cell can be rapidlyset according to the write potentials appearing on bit lines BL and /BL,so that data can be written fast.

In the unselected memory cell, the voltage level of the correspondingsub-word line is in the unselected state, and deterioration of thereading is prevented in the unselected memory cells even when the writemargin increases, and stable data writing can be achieved. The number ofthe memory cells connected to one sub-word line is made as small aspossible, and data access (write/read) is made in parallel on the memorycells connected to the one sub-word line. Thus, it is possible to avoidthe problem of deterioration of the static noise margin of theunselected memory cells in the data write operation, and the data can bewritten and read stably.

In the data read operation, write instruction signal WE is at the Llevel, and the output signals of pull-down control gates G0-GIi are atthe H level independently of column block select signal BS. Therefore,all pull-down elements PD (PD00-PDjk) are in an on-state, and thevoltage level of the selected sub-word line is set to the voltage levelaccording to the ratio between the on-resistances of MOS transistorsPQ15 and NQ25. Thus, the voltage level of the selected sub-word line isadjusted according to the threshold voltage characteristics of the drivetransistors in the memory cell. When the threshold voltage of the drivetransistors in the memory cell is high, the voltage level of thesub-word line and the on-resistance of the pull-down element becomehigh. In this state, static noise margin SNM is sufficiently ensured,and therefore, the voltage level of the sub-word line is made high. Whenthe threshold voltage of the memory cell drive transistor is low, adrive power of a drain current Ids thereof increases, and static noisemargin SNM lowers. In this case, the voltage level of the selectedsub-word line lowers (the on-resistance of the pull-down elementdecreases), and the static noise margin is improved (by adjusting thedriving current amount of the access transistor).

The pull-down control gate may be formed of the pull-down element usedin the second embodiment.

According to the fourth embodiment of the invention, as described above,the memory cell array is divided into a plurality of column blocks, andwriting and reading of the data are performed in the selected columnblock. In an unselected column block, sub-word lines are kept inactive(in the unselected state), and it is possible to prevent the datadestruction due to deterioration of the static noise margin of thememory cells in the unselected column. Thus, even when the columns arelarge in number, the reading and writing can be performed with stablemargins against variation in threshold voltage of the memory cells.

[Fifth Embodiment]

FIG. 22 shows a construction of a main portion of a semiconductor memorydevice according to a fifth embodiment of the invention. FIG. 22 shows aconstruction of a portion related to one word line WL. Word line driverWDV selectively drives word line WL to a selected or unselected state.The word line driver WDV includes P- and N-channel MOS transistors PQ15and NQ15 forming the CMOS inverter in the drive stage.

Memory cells MC and a dummy cell DMC are connected to word line WL.Memory cell MC includes P-channel MOS transistors PQ1 and PQ2 as well asN-channel MOS transistors NQ1 and NQ2 forming a flip-flop, and furtherincludes access transistors NQ3 and NQ4 coupling storage nodes ND1 andND2 to bit lines BL and /BL, respectively according to the potential onword line WL.

Dummy cell DMC includes P-channel MOS transistors PT1 and PT2corresponding to P-channel MOS transistors PQ1 and PQ2 of memory cellMC, respectively, N-channel MOS transistors NT1 and NT2 corresponding toN-channel MOS transistors NQ1 and NQ2 of memory cell MC, respectively,and N-channel MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 corresponding to accesstransistors NQ3 and NQ4 in memory cell MC, respectively.

Memory cell MC and dummy cell DMC are different in interconnection andconnection from each other, but have the same layout with respect to theinternal transistors. In dummy cell DMC, MOS transistors PT1, PT2, NT1and NT2 have the same layout as MOS transistors PQ1, PQ2, NQ1 and NQ2 inmemory cell MC, respectively, and are formed in the same manner

In dummy cell DMC, each of N-channel MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 thatcorrespond to access transistors NQ3 and NQ4 in memory cell MC,respectively, has a gate and a first node (drain node) coupled to wordline WL, and has a second node (source node) coupled to the ground node.In dummy cell DMC, therefore, N-channel MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 areisolated from nodes DN1 and DN2 corresponding to storage nodes ND1 andND2 in memory cell MC, respectively. MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 indummy cell DMC have the same layout as access transistors NQ3 and NQ4 inmemory cell MC, and differ from the access transistors only in themanner of interconnections. Therefore, MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 indummy cell DMC have substantially the same electric characteristics asaccess transistors NQ3 and NQ4 in memory cell MC.

In the construction shown in FIG. 22, MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 ofdummy cell DMC function as the pull-down element. MOS transistors DT1and DT2 in dummy cell DMC are located near drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2in memory cell MC so that similar variations occur in manufacturingparameters of the memory cells and the dummy cell, and the variations inelectric characteristic (threshold voltage characteristic) of drivetransistors NQ1 and NQ2 in memory cell MC are similar to the variationsin electric characteristic (threshold voltage characteristic) ofpull-down MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 in the dummy cell. Therefore, thefluctuations in transistor parameters of the memory cell can bereflected in the threshold voltage of pull-down transistors DT1 and DT2in dummy cell DMC, and thus the voltage level of the selected word linecan be set and corrected closely in linkage with the variations inthreshold voltage of the memory cell.

It is assumed that a ratio of 1:23 is present between on-resistance Rpof P-channel MOS transistor PQ15 in word line driver WDV and combinedon-resistance Rn of N-channel MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 in dummy cellDMC. When power supply voltage VDD is 1.2 V, voltage VWL on word line WLin the selected state can be expressed by the following equation:1.2·23/24=1.15.

Therefore, voltage drop of about 50 mV can be caused on selected wordline WL. These on-resistance Rp and combined on-resistance Rn correspondto the current driving powers of MOS transistor PQ15 and MOS transistorsDT1 and DT2, and a desired voltage ratio can be achieve by settingchannel width W to an appropriate value. For example, when MOStransistor PQ15 has the on-resistance Rp of 1.5 KΩ, combinedon-resistance Rn of N-channel MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 is 25 KΩ.According to this resistance values, the quantity of the through-currentthat flows from the power supply node of word line driver WDV via wordline WL and pull-down MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 to the ground node isequal to (1.2/(26.1×10^3) and thus about 44 μA, where the symbol “^”indicates the power. This through-current flows through the word line inthe selected row only during the word line select period, whichsufficiently suppresses the increase in current consumption.

FIG. 23 schematically shows the potential of word line WL in the casewhere transistors DT1 and DT2 in dummy cell DMC are used as thepull-down element in FIG. 22. When threshold voltage Vth of drive MOStransistors NQ1 and NQ2 in memory cell MC rises, the threshold voltageof MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 in dummy cell DMC rises, and theon-resistance (conductance) rises so that drain current Ids thereoflowers. In memory cell MC, static noise margin SNM is improved, but thewrite characteristics deteriorate. In this case, the on-resistances ofMOS transistors DT1 and DT2 in dummy cell DMC rise, and the voltagelevel of selected word line WL rises so that the write margin of memorycell MC is ensured.

When threshold voltage Vth of drive N-channel MOS transistors NQ1 andNQ2 in memory cell MC lowers, the write characteristics of the memorycell are improved, but static noise margin SNM lowers. In dummy cellDMC, threshold voltages of MOS transistors DT1 and DT2 likewise lower toincrease the drain currents thereof, and the on-resistances lower. Inthis case, the voltage level of selected word line WL lowers accordingto the on-resistances of MOS transistors DT1 and DT2, and deteriorationof static noise margin SNM of memory cell MC is suppressed.

Therefore, by using transistors DT1 and DT2 corresponding to the accesstransistors in dummy cell DMC as the pull-down element, it is possibleto adjust automatically the voltage level of the selected word line WLclosely in linkage with the fluctuations in threshold voltage of thedrive transistor in memory cell MC, and the writing and reading of datacan be stably performed.

In dummy cell DMC, the transistor corresponding to the access transistorin memory cell MC is used as the pull-down transistor. Therefore, whenthe influence of the threshold voltage fluctuations of the accesstransistor in the memory cell is larger than that of the thresholdvoltage fluctuations of the drive transistor, the read margin and writemargin can be ensured by adjusting the voltage on the selected word linein accordance with and closely in linkage with the fluctuations inthreshold voltage of the access transistor.

Dummy cell DMC and memory cell MC have the same layout, and the memorycell in the pull-down transistor and the corresponding access transistorare arranged with the same size (the same ratio of the gate width to thegate length). However, the dummy cell may be configured to have the sizeratio from 0.8 to 2 similarly to the second embodiment according to thevoltage drop quantity of word line WL.

Each memory cell row includes one dummy cell DMC and two pull-downtransistors. However, the number of dummy cell(s) is appropriatelydetermined according to the voltage lowering quantity of the word line.

[First Modification]

FIG. 24 shows a construction of dummy cell DMC of a modification of thefifth embodiment of the present invention. Dummy cell DMC shown in FIG.24 has the same components as memory cell MC shown in FIG. 22. Memorycell MC and dummy cell DMC are the same in transistor layout, but differin connection of interconnection lines from each other. Each ofN-channel MOS transistors DT3 and DT4 that correspond to accesstransistors NQ3 and NQ4 in memory cell MC, respectively, is connected atits first node to word line WL, and is connected at its gate to wordline WL. Second nodes of N-channel MOS transistors DT3 and DT4 areconnected to internal nodes DN1 and DN2, respectively, as well as to theground node.

MOS transistors PT1, PT2, NT1 and NT2 correspond to MOS transistors PQ1,PQ2, NQ1 and NQ2 forming the flip-flop in memory cell MC shown in FIG.22.

In dummy cell DMC shown in FIG. 24, internal nodes DN1 and DN2 arecoupled to second nodes of MOS transistors DT3 and DT4, respectively.The high-side power supply nodes of MOS transistors PT1 and PT2 aremaintained in the electrically floating state.

In the construction of dummy cell DMC shown in FIG. 24, MOS transistorsDT3 and DT4 function as the pull-down element. Nodes DN1 and DN2 are atthe ground voltage level, and MOS transistors PT1 and PT2 clamp thesource nodes corresponding to the high-side power supply nodes of MOStransistors PT1 and PT2 at the level of voltage Vthp (assuming that theabsolute values of threshold voltages of MOS transistors PT1 and PT2 areVthp).

In the connection construction shown in FIG. 24, the influence of thevariations in threshold voltage of drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 inmemory cell MC is similarly exerted on access N-channel MOS transistorsNQ3 and NQ4 arranged near them. Thereby, pull-down MOS transistors DT3and DT4 in dummy cell DMC exhibit the variations in threshold voltagesimilar to those of the drive transistors NQ1 and NQ2 in memory cell MC,and the voltage level of word line WL can be set to the voltage levelcorresponding to the variations in threshold voltage of memory cell MC.

The transistors corresponding to the access transistors are used as thepull-down transistors, and the voltage on the selected word line can beadjusted by reflecting the fluctuations in threshold voltage of thememory cell access transistors in these pull-down transistors. When theaccess transistors and the drive transistors of a memory cell have thesame size (the same ratio of the gate width to the gate length), thepull-down transistors of the dummy cell can set the voltage on aselected word line to the level reflecting the fluctuations in thresholdvoltage of both the access and drive transistors.

FIG. 25 schematically shows a planar layout of dummy cell DMC shown inFIG. 24. FIG. 25 also shows a planar layout of memory cell MC.

In FIG. 25, dummy cell DMC includes, as transistor element formationregions, active regions AR2 and AR3 formed in an N-well as well asactive regions AR1 and AR4 that are formed at P-well regions on theopposite sides of the above N-well, respectively. Each of active regionsAR1-AR4 has a rectangular form having longer sides in the Y direction.

A contact CT1 and a contact/via VC1 are formed at the opposite ends ofactive region AR1, respectively, and a contact CT2 is formed in acentral region of active region AR1.

A first polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS extends in the Xdirection across active regions AR1 and AR2. A first polycrystallinesilicon interconnection line line PS1 is formed near contact/via VC1,and extends across active region AR1. A first polycrystalline siliconinterconnection line PS3 is formed in the memory cell region, andextends in the X direction across active regions AR3 and AR4. A firstpolycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS4 is arranged near avia/contact VC2 and extends in the X direction across active region AR4.A first polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS2 is coupled toactive region AR3 via a shared contact SC2, and active region AR2 iscoupled to polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS3 via a sharedcontact SC1. Each of shared contacts SC1 and SC2 is formed of a contactportion connected to the active region and an interconnection lineportion continuously extending to polycrystalline siliconinterconnection line PS2 or 0S3, and has functions as a contact and aninterconnection line that are achieved by one interconnection layer.

In active region AR1, a first metal interconnection line MM1 connectscontacts CT1 and CT2 together. First metal interconnection line MM1 isformed in a layer higher than polycrystalline silicon interconnectionline PS2. Contact CT1 is coupled to the ground line supplying groundvoltage VSS.

A third metal interconnection line MM3 forming word line WL extends inthe X direction across dummy cell DMC. Third metal interconnection lineMM3 forming word line WL is coupled to polycrystalline siliconinterconnection line PS1 through a via VA1, and is coupled to activeregion AR1 through via/contact VC1. Third metal interconnection line MM3is coupled to first polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS4through a via VA2, and is coupled to active region AR4 throughvia/contact VC2.

In active region AR4, a first metal interconnection line MM2 connectscontact CT5 and CT6 together, and contact CT6 is coupled to the groundnode.

In each of active regions AR1 and AR4, the transistor corresponding tothe drive transistor in the memory cell is coupled at its source anddrain to the ground node, and the transistor (DT3 or DT4) correspondingto the access transistor in the memory cell is connected at its gate anddrain to the word line, and is connected at its source to the groundnode.

Third metal interconnection line MM3 is used as a word line WL3 becausethe second metal interconnection line is used for arranging the linetransmitting power supply voltage VDD in the memory cell.

Contacts CT3 and CT4 in active regions AR2 and AR3 are not coupled tothe power supply line transmitting power supply voltage VDD, but arekept in the electrically floating state.

Similarly to dummy cell DMC, memory cell MC includes, at the N-well,active regions AR12 and AR13 each having a rectangular form elongated inthe Y direction, and further active regions AR11 and AR14 that areformed in the P-wells on the opposite sides of the N-well, respectively,and each of which has a rectangular form elongated in the Y direction. Apolycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS11 is formed acrossactive region AR11, and is coupled through a via VA11 to third metalinterconnection line MM3 forming word line WL.

In a central portion of active region AR11, a contact CT18 is coupled tofirst metal interconnection line M11, which is coupled to active regionAR12 via a shared contact CS11. Contact CT18 electrically couples firstmetal interconnection line MM11 to active region AR11, and therebyimplements a connection of the transistor to the storage node in thememory cell. A shared contact SC11 is connected to a polycrystallinesilicon interconnection line PS13 that is located in memory cell MC andextends in the X direction over active regions AR13 and AR14.

In active region AR12, a contact CT13 for the power supply node isformed at an end remote from shared contact SC11. In active region AR13,a contact CT14 receiving the power supply voltage is formed in aposition mirror-symmetrical to contact CT13. Active region AR13 is alsoprovided, at an end region remote from contact CT14, with a sharedcontact SC12 connected to a polycrystalline silicon interconnection linePS12 extending in the X direction and crossing active regions AR12 andAR11.

Shared contact SC12 is connected to a contact CT19 formed in a centralregion of active region AR14. Contact CT19 is electrically connected toa region in active region AR14, and first metal interconnection lineMM12 provides the connection of the transistors of the other storagenode in the memory cell.

A contact CT15 above active region AR14 is coupled to bit line /BL, anda contact CT16 formed at a position remote from contact CT15 is coupledto the ground line transmitting ground voltage VSS.

A polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS14 extending in the Xdirection across active region AR14 is arranged for active region AR14,and is connected through a via VA12 to third metal interconnection lineMM3 forming the word line.

In the layout shown in FIG. 25, MOS transistor DT1 in dummy cell DMC isformed in active region AR1, has a gate formed of polycrystallinesilicon interconnection line PS1, has an impurity region connected toword line WL (third metal interconnection line MM3) and has a sourcecoupled to a node receiving ground voltage VSS via contacts CT2 and CT1.

MOS transistor DT4 is formed in active region AR4, has a gate connectedto polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS4 and is electricallyconnected at a first conduction node to the third metal interconnectionline forming word line WL through via/contact VC2. The source node(second conduction node) of MOS transistor DT4 is coupled to the groundnode via contacts CT5 and CT6.

In the region for forming memory cell MC, active region AR11 is used toform access transistor NQ3 and drive transistor NQ1, and active regionAR14 is used to form access transistor NQ4 and drive transistor NQ2.Shared contacts SC11 and SC12 correspond to storage nodes ND1 and ND2,respectively.

As shown in FIG. 25, therefore, dummy cell DMC and memory cell MC havethe same layout, and are aligned in the X direction. In the activeregions of dummy cell DMC, first metal interconnection lines MM1 and MM2extend in the Y direction to connect contacts CT1 and CT5 to contactsCT2 and CT6, respectively. In dummy memory cell DMC, first metalinterconnection lines MM11 and MM1 couple shared contacts SC11 and SC12to contacts CT18 and CT19 in active regions AR11 and AR14, respectively.

First metal interconnection lines MM1, MM2, MM11 and MM12 are differentfrom each other only in extending direction, and first metalinterconnection lines MM1 and MM2 of memory cell MC are formed in thesame manufacturing steps as first metal interconnection lines MM11 andMM12.

Further, in dummy cell DMC, third metal interconnection line MM3 formingword line WL is connected to via/contacts VC1 and VC2 corresponding tothe contacts connected to bit lines BL and /BL of memory cell MC.Therefore, dummy cell DMC and memory cell MC can be formed in the samemanufacturing steps with the same layout. The transistors in memory cellMC and dummy cell DMC are arranged in the same arrangement direction,and the same cell pattern can be arranged repeatedly so that accesstransistors DT3 and DT4 in dummy cell DMC can be used to provide, as thepull-down element for the selected word line voltage, the transistorshaving the same electric characteristics as the memory cell transistors.

Dummy cell DMC has the same layout as memory cell MC, and the word linevoltage pull-down transistors in the dummy cell can be interconnected tothe word line in the same interconnecting steps as memory cell MC.

In dummy cell DMC, gates of the P- and N-channel MOS transistors formingthe inverter are connected together, but drain nodes thereof areisolated from each other. The first metal interconnection line connectscontact CT2 to shared contact SC1, and the first metal interconnectionline connects contact CT5 to shared contact SC2. Thereby, the drainnodes of the P- and N-channel MOS transistors can be connected to nodesDN1 and DN2 corresponding to the storage nodes, respectively.

[Second Modification]

FIG. 26 schematically shows a layout of dummy cell DMC of a secondmodification of the fifth embodiment of the invention. The layout ofmemory cell MC corresponding to dummy cell DMC shown in FIG. 26 is thesame as that of memory cell MC shown in FIG. 25, and third metalinterconnection line MM3 forming word line WL is shared between memorycells MC arranged in the row direction. Therefore, FIG. 26 does not showthe layout of the memory cells. Dummy cell DMC is aligned to the memorycells.

In dummy cell DMC shown in FIG. 26, arrangement of active regionsAR1-AR4 and therefore arrangement of the transistors are the same as thearrangement of active regions AR1-AR4 and the arrangement of thetransistors shown in FIG. 25. The interconnection layout of dummy cellDMC shown in FIG. 26 differs from that of dummy cell DMC shown in FIG.25 in the following points:

In active region AR1, a contact/via VC21 arranged betweenpolycrystalline silicon interconnection lines PS1 and PS2 is not coupledto active region AR1, but is coupled to third metal interconnection lineMM3 forming word line WL. Third metal interconnection line MM3 iscoupled to polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS1 through viaVA1. A bit line contact CT21 of active region AR1 is not coupled to theword line, but is coupled to a node supplying ground voltage VSS.

Contact CT1 on the other end of active region AR1 is maintained in thefloating state. Contact/via VC21 is coupled merely to third metalinterconnection line MM3 forming the word line, and shared contact SC1is isolated from contact/via VC21.

In active region AR4 within the other P-well, a contact/via VC22arranged in a region between polycrystalline silicon interconnectionlines PS4 and PS3 is coupled to third metal interconnection line MM3,and the impurity region at the center of active region AR4 is coupled toword line WL through contact/via VC22. Third metal interconnection lineMM3 is coupled to polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS4through via VA2. Contact CT5 is isolated from third metalinterconnection line MM3, and is coupled to a node supplying groundvoltage VSS instead of the bit line. In active region AR4, contact CT6arranged on the other end is isolated from the ground voltage supplynode, and is maintained in the floating state.

Shared contacts SC1 and SC2 formed in active regions AR2 and AR3 arecoupled to polycrystalline silicon interconnection lines PS3 and PS2,respectively. Power supply contact CT3 is electrically connected via afirst metal interconnection line MM31 in the layer above polycrystallinesilicon interconnection line PS2 to shared contact SC1, and sharedcontact SC2 is electrically coupled to power supply contact CT4 via afirst metal interconnection line MM32.

Other arrangements relating to dummy cell DMC shown in FIG. 26 are thesame as those shown in FIG. 25. Corresponding portions are allotted withthe same reference numerals, and description thereof is not repeated.

FIG. 27 shows an electrically equivalent circuit of dummy cell DMC shownin FIG. 26. In FIGS. 26 and 27, N-channel MOS transistors DT5 and NT3are formed in active region AR1. Contact/via VC21 corresponds to theconnection node (shared impurity region) of MOS transistors DT5 and NT3,and is electrically coupled to word line WL. A gate of MOS transistorDT5 is coupled to word line WL through via VA1. The other conductionnode of MOS transistor DT5 receives ground voltage VSS through contactCT21.

In active region AR2, a P-channel MOS transistor PT3 is formed, andactive region AR3 has a P-channel MOS transistor PT4 framed therein.Polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS2 forms gates of MOStransistors PT3 and NT3, and is connected to shared contact SC2.Polycrystalline silicon interconnection line PS1 forms gates of MOStransistors PT4 and NT4, and is coupled to shared contact SC1.Therefore, the drain nodes of MOS transistors PT3 and NT3 are isolatedfrom each other, and the drain nodes of MOS transistors PT4 and NT4 arelikewise isolated from each other. The source nodes of MOS transistorsPT3 and PT4 receive power supply voltage VDD through contacts CT3 andCT4.

In active region AR4, N-channel MOS transistors NT4 and DT6 are formedtherein. The connection node between MOS transistors NT4 and DT6 isconnected to word line WL through contact/via VC22, and the gate of MOStransistor DT6 is connected to word line WL. The source node of MOStransistor DT6 receives ground voltage VSS via contact CT6. Contact CT5maintains the source node of MOS transistor NT4 in the floating state.

According to the arrangement of dummy cell DMC shown in FIG. 27, thevoltage level of word line WL can likewise be pulled down by MOStransistors DT5 and DT6 having the same transistor layout as the drivetransistors arranged near the access transistors0 in the memory cell.Although MOS transistors NT3 and NT4 each have the gate maintained atthe level of power supply voltage VDD and therefore are normallyconductive, the source nodes thereof are in the floating state.Therefore, MOS transistors NT3 and NT4 do not affect the dischargingoperation performed by MOS transistors DT5 and DT6.

MOS transistors PT3 and PT4 have gate, source and drain nodes connectedto the power supply node, and are normally maintained in the off state.A node in the floating state is not present in dummy cell DMC (thesource nodes of transistors NT3 and NT4 are maintained at the word linepotential).

Dummy cell DMC may be supplied with ground voltage VSS instead of powersupply voltage VDD. In this case, MOS transistors NT3 and NT4 cannormally be maintained in the off state so that the parasiticcapacitance of the word line can be reduced, and it is possible toreduce the influence on driving speed of the word line to the selectedstate.

Even in the case where the transistors in dummy cell DMC shown in FIG.27 are used as the word line pull-down elements, the same fluctuationsoccur in parameter of the N-channel MOS transistors in dummy cell DMCand memory cell MC in the manufacturing steps, and the word line WL canbe set to the voltage level reflecting the fluctuations in thresholdvoltage of drive N-channel MOS transistors (NQ1 and NQ2) of the memorycell by using MOS transistors DT5 and DT6.

In these first to third modifications, the size ratio between thetransistor in the memory cell (the access and drive transistors areformed in the same rectangular region, and have the same gate width) andthe pull-down transistor in the dummy cell may be in a range from 0.5 to5, and preferably from 0.8 to 2, similarly to the second embodiment.

According to the fifth embodiment of the invention, as described above,the transistor in the dummy cell corresponding to the access transistoris used as the pull-down element for the word line, and the fluctuationsin threshold voltage of the memory cell can be reflected in the dummycell aligned to the memory cell and having the same transistor layout asthe memory cell. Thus, a selected word line can be accurately set to thevoltage level reflecting the variations in threshold voltage of theN-channel MOS transistors in the memory cell, and the selected word linevoltage can be automatically and precisely corrected to perform readingand writing of the data in the memory cell.

[Sixth Embodiment]

FIG. 28 schematically shows a construction of a main portion of asemiconductor memory device according to a sixth embodiment of theinvention. In FIG. 28, the word lines are divided into a plurality ofword line groups WG0-WGi each including word lines WL0-WLk. Each of wordlines WL0-WLk is connected to a plurality of memory cells MC, but FIG.28 shows only one of memory cells MC connected to each word line. Bitlines BL and /BL are arranged corresponding to each memory cell column,but are not shown in FIG. 28 for the sake of simplicity.

In each of word line groups WG0-WGi, word line decoders/driversWDK0-WDKk are arranged corresponding to word lines WL0-WLk,respectively. In each of word line groups WG0-WGi, word linedecoders/drivers WDK0-WDKk each decode row address predecode signals XH,XM and XL, and drive a corresponding word line to a selected state whenthe corresponding word line is to be selected. A combination ofpredecode signals XH, XM and XL for each word line decoder/driver isdifferent from combinations for the other word line decoders/drivers,and one word line is designated among the word lines.

Word line decoder/driver WDK0 includes an NAND gate NG0 for decodingpredecode signals XH, XM and XL, and an inverter IVG0 for driving thecorresponding word line to the selected state according to an outputsignal of NAND gate NG0. Inverter WM includes a P-channel MOS transistorPQ30 and an N-channel MOS transistor NQ30. Other word linedecoders/drivers WDK have the same configurations as word linedecoder/driver WDK0, although these word line decoders/drivers WDKreceive different combinations of predecode signals XH, XM and XL,respectively. Therefore, internal configurations of the other word linedecoders/drivers WDK are not shown.

In each of word line groups WG0-WGi, word line decoders/drivers WD0-WDKkcommonly receive the operation power supply voltage via driver powersupply lines DPL (DPL0-DPLi). Driver power supply line prechargecircuits DPG0-DPGi precharge driver power supply lines DPL0-DPLi to thelevel of power supply voltage VDD, respectively. Driver power supplyline precharge circuit DPG0 includes an NAND gate NG1 for decodingpredecode signals XH and XM, an inverter circuit IVG1 for inverting theoutput signal of NAND gate NG1, and a P-channel MOS transistor PQ32 fortransmitting power supply voltage VDD to a corresponding one of driverpower supply lines DPL0-DPLk. Driver power supply line prechargecircuits DPG0-DPGi have the same construction, and therefore thereference numerals for the components are assigned only to thecomponents in driver power supply line precharge circuit DPG0.

The combination of predecode signals XH and XM designates one of wordline groups WG0-WGi. In the selected word line group, therefore, driverpower supply line precharge circuit DPG (one of DPG0-DPGk) becomesinactive (non-conductive) to stop precharging of corresponding driverpower supply line DPL (one of DPL0-DPLi) to the level of power supplyvoltage VDD.

Driver power supply line precharge circuits DPG0-DPGi are employed forpreventing excessive drop of the voltage levels of driver power supplylines DPL0-DPLk in a long cycle, i.e., when the successive accesses aremade and when the word line is kept in the selected for a long period oftime.

Level shifters LSF0-LSF1 are provided for driver power supply linesDPL0-DPLi, respectively. Level shifters LSF0-LSF1 clamp the lower limitvoltage levels of corresponding driver power supply lines DPL0-DPLi atthe voltage level of (VDD-Vthp), respectively.

FIG. 29 shows an example of the constructions of level shiftersLSF0-LSF1. Since level shifters LSF0-LSF1 have the same construction,FIG. 29 representatively shows only one of level shifters LSF0-LSF1, andreference character “LSF” is used for representing the level shifterrepresentatively.

Level shifter LSF includes P-channel MOS transistors DPQ1 and DPQ2 thatare arranged between the power supply node and a node ND5, and havegates connected to node ND5, N-channel MOS transistors DNQ3 and DNQ1connected in series, and N-channel MOS transistors DNQ4 and DNQ2connected in series. Nodes ND7 and ND9 are kept in the electricallyfloating state, and both the gates of MOS transistors DNQ1 and DNQ2 areconnected to node ND5.

MOS transistors DPQ1 and DPQ2 have the threshold voltages of absolutevalue of Vthp, and diode-connected MOS transistors DPQ1 and DPQ2maintain node ND5 at the voltage level of (VDD-Vthp) to keep MOStransistors DNQ1 and DNQ2 conductive. The connection node between MOStransistors DNQ3 and DNQ1 is isolated from node ND5, and the connectionnode between MOS transistors DNQ2 and DNQ4 is isolated from node ND5.Therefore, MOS transistors DNQ1 and DNQ2 maintain the nodes ND7 and ND9in the floating state at the ground voltage level.

This level shifter LSF is the same in transistor layout as thecomponents in memory cell MC, but is different in connection manner ofinterconnection lines. MOS transistors DPQ1 and DPQ2 exhibitfluctuations in threshold voltage similar to the fluctuations inthreshold voltage of the load transistor in the memory cell. Therefore,the voltage (VDD-Vthp) of driver power supply line DPL is maintained atthe voltage level reflecting the fluctuations of threshold voltage ofthe load P-channel MOS transistor included in memory cell MC.

FIG. 30 is a signal waveform diagram representing an operation of thesemiconductor memory device shown in FIGS. 28 and 29. Referring to FIG.30, description will now be given on the operations of the semiconductormemory device shown in FIGS. 28 and 29.

In an operation signal waveforms shown in FIG. 30, the semiconductormemory device operates in synchronization with a clock signal CLK, andthe address signal is externally applied in synchronization with clocksignal CLK. Clock signal CLK may be a clock signal defining an operationcycle of a processor outside the semiconductor memory device (in whichcase the processor supplies the address signal to the semiconductormemory device in synchronization with the clock signal), or may beapplied from the external processor to the semiconductor memory devicetogether with the address signal with clock signal CLK.

When clock signal CLK rises, an externally applied row address signal ismade definite, and a predecoder (not shown) establishes the states ofpredecode signals XH, XM and XL. It is assumed that word line group WG0is selected. In this case, the output signal of NAND gate NG1 attainsthe L level according to the combination of predecode signals XH and XM,so that the output signal of inverter IVG1 attains the H level, and MOStransistor PQ32 is turned off. Accordingly, the precharging of driverpower supply line DPL0 to power supply voltage VDD is completed. Whendriver power supply line DPL0 is at the level of power supply voltageVDD, MOS transistors DPQ1 and DPQ2 shown in FIG. 29 are in an off state,and driver power supply line DPL is rendered floating at the level ofpower supply voltage VDD.

The word line decoders/drivers WDK0-WDKk perform the decode operation,and the word line decoder/driver arranged corresponding, to the selectedword line provides such an operation according to the predecode signalsXH, XM and XL that the output signal of NAND gate NG0 attains the Llevel, and accordingly, inverter IVG0 produces the output signal at theH level. Assuming that word line WL0 is selected, MOS transistor PQ30 inword line decoder/driver WDK0 charges word line WL0. The chargingcurrent of word line WL (WL0) is supplied from driver power supply lineDPL (DPL0), so that the voltage level of driver power supply line DPL0lowers. When the voltage level of driver power supply line DPL0 lowers,the clamping function works in level shifters LSF0-LSF1, and MOStransistors DPQ1 and DPQ2 maintain the voltage level of driver powersupply line DPL0 at the level of (VDD-Vthp).

When absolute value Vthp of the threshold voltage of the load transistorincluded in memory cell MC increases, and the driving current quantitydecreases, the write margin is improved, and static noise margin SNMdeteriorates. In this case, the voltage clamping level of driver powersupply line DPL is lower than power supply voltage VDD (Vthp is large),and selected word line WL0 attains the voltage level lowered more, andthe static noise margin of the memory cell is improved.

When absolute value Vthp of threshold voltage of the load MOS transistorin memory cell MC is low, the driving current quantity increases, andthe write margin deteriorates (the data write margin becomes small)although static noise margin SNM is improved. In this case, the clampinglevel of driver power supply line DPL is equal to voltage of (VDD-Vthp),so that the extent of voltage lowering is small, and the voltage levelof selected word line WL WL0 is close to power supply voltage VDD sothat the write margin is improved.

Therefore, the voltage level of the selected word line can beautomatically adjusted closely in linkage with the fluctuations inthreshold voltage Vth of the load MOS transistor in the memory cell, andthe writing and reading of data can be performed stably and accurately.

In particular, the transistors having the same transistor layout as thememory cell are used as the level shifter, and therefore the voltagelevel of the word line can be adjusted accurately in synchronizationwith or corresponding to the fluctuations in threshold voltage of theload transistors in the memory cell.

The number of word lines WL0-WLk included in each of word line groupsWG0-WGi may be appropriately determined according to the bit number ofthe predecode signals.

The number of level shifters LSF coupled to one driver power supply lineis merely required to allow supply of the current for driving one wordline, and is appropriately determined according to the size of thetransistor of the level shifter.

[First Modification]

FIG. 31 shows a construction of a modification of the array in thesemiconductor memory device of the sixth embodiment of the invention. InFIG. 31, the word lines are formed into a hierarchical constructionincluding main word lines and sub-word lines. The main word lines aredivided into main word line groups MWG each including a plurality ofmain word lines. FIG. 31 representatively shows a main word line groupMWG0 including main word lines MWL0-MWLi as well as main word line groupMWG1 including main word lines MWLi+1-MWLj.

Main word line drivers/decoders MWDV0-MWDVi and MWDVi+1-MWDVj arearranged corresponding to main word lines MWL0-MWLi and MWLi+1-MWLj,respectively. Main word line drivers/decoders MWDV0-MWDVi, MWDVi+1-MWDVjdrive one main word line to the selected state.

The memory cell array is divided into column blocks CBK0-CBKk. In eachcolumn block, sub-word lines SWL are arranged corresponding to main wordlines MWL0-WMLj. In FIG. 31, sub-word lines SWL00-SWL0 k are arrangedcorresponding to main word line MWL0, and sub-word lines SWLi0-SWLik arearranged corresponding to main word line MWLi. Sub-word linesSWL(i+1)0-SWL(i+1)k are arranged corresponding to main word line MWLi+1,and sub-word lines SWLj0-SWLjk are arranged corresponding to main wordline MWLj. Each of sub-word lines SWL00-SWLjk is connected to memorycells MC in one row of the corresponding column block.

These sub-word lines SWL00-SWLjk are provided with sub-word line driversSDV00-SDVjk. Each of sub-word line drivers SDV00-SDVjk responds tocolumn block select signal BS (BS0-BSk) and the signal potential of acorresponding main word line MWL (one of MWL0-MWLj), to drive thecorresponding sub-word line to the selected state.

Thus, the sub-word lines are arranged corresponding to the respectivememory cell rows in each of the column blocks to be designated by blockselect signals BS0-BSk, and a sub-word line corresponding to theselected main word line is driven to the selected state in the selectedcolumn block.

In each of main word line groups MWG0-MWG1, driver power supply lineprecharge circuits SDPG are arranged corresponding to column blocksCBK0-CBKk, respectively. For main word line group MWG0 in FIG. 31,driver power supply line precharge circuits SDPG00-SDPG0 k are arrangedcorresponding to column blocks CBK0-CBKk, respectively. For main wordline group MWG1, driver power supply line precharge circuitsSDPG10-SDPG1 k are arranged corresponding to column blocks CBK0-CBKk,respectively. These driver power supply line precharge circuitsSDPG00-SDPG1 k supply the operation power supply voltage to the sub-wordline drivers in the column blocks of the corresponding main word linegroups via sub-word line driver power supply lines SDPL00-SDPL1 k,respectively.

Each of sub-word line driver power supply lines SDPL00-SDPL1 k isconnected to level shift elements LSF0-LSF1.

The construction of each of driver power supply line precharge circuitsSDPG00-SDPG1 k has the same construction as driver power supply lineprecharge circuits DPG0-DPGk, except for that column block select signalBS (BS0-BSk) is applied together with predecode signals XH and XM. Mainword line drivers/decoders MWDV0-MWDVj have the same constructions asword line drive decoders/drivers WDK-WDKk shown in FIG. 28. Main wordline drivers/decoders MWDV0-MWDVj drive corresponding main word linesMWL0-MWLj to the selected state according to predecode signals XH, XMand XL.

Level shift elements LSF0-LSF leach are the same in construction as thatshown in FIG. 26 and in transistor layout as memory cell MC, and eachinclude a diode-connected P-channel MOS transistor that corresponds tothe load transistor, and is coupled to the corresponding one of driverpower supply lines SDPL00-SDPL1 k.

In the hierarchical word line configuration shown in FIG. 31, thesub-word line is driven to the selected state only in the column blockincluding the memory cell in a selected column, and the correspondingword line driver power supply line precharge circuit and level shiftersLSF0-LSF1 shift down the voltage level of the corresponding sub-wordline to the level of (VDD-Vthp). In the unselected column blocks, allthe sub-word lines are in the unselected state, and the correspondingdriver power supply line precharge circuits DPG maintain thecorresponding driver power supply lines SDPL at the level of powersupply voltage VDD. In the write operation, therefore, a sufficient readmargin can be ensured in the unselected memory cells, and fast datawriting can be performed without causing data destruction in theunselected memory cells.

It is possible to reduce the number of the memory cells in a halfselected state in which the corresponding word line is selected and thecorresponding bit line is not selected. In the data write operation,therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the datadestruction occurs due to the read margin deterioration of the memorycells in the half selected state.

In the hierarchical word line configuration shown in FIG. 31, the mainword line and the sub-word line in each column block are in one-to-onecorrespondence relationship. However, each column block may beconfigured such that one main word line corresponds to a plurality ofsub-word lines, and the sub-word line driver drives the correspondingsub-word line to the selected state according to the predecode signal(XL) and the signal on the associated main word line.

[Second Modification]

FIG. 32 schematically shows a construction of a memory array of thesecond modification of the sixth embodiment of the invention. In FIG.32, memory cell array 1 includes a normal memory array 50 having memorycells MC arranged in rows and columns, and a word line voltage adjustingportion 52 for adjusting the select voltage level of word line WL. Wordline voltage adjusting portion 52 includes word line voltage adjustingcircuits 58 arranged corresponding to the memory cell rows (word lines),respectively. Each word line WL is connected to the memory cells in thecorresponding row.

Each word line voltage adjusting circuit 58 is aligned to memory cellsMC, and has the same transistor arrangement as memory cell MC, althoughthe construction thereof will be described later in detail. By changinginternal line connections, word line voltage adjusting circuit 58 canachieve a function of adjusting the voltage level of the word line.

Corresponding to each word line WL, there is arranged a word line driver56 that drives a corresponding word line to the selected state accordingto a word line select signal applied from a row decoder 54. Word linesWL are divided into groups each including a predetermined number (e.g.,in a range from 16 to 64) of word lines, and driver power supply linesDPLC are arranged corresponding to word line groups WG, respectively.Driver power supply line DPLC is commonly coupled to clamping powersupply lines DPLA and DPLB arranged in the word line voltage adjustingportion for each word line group WG. Driver power supply line DPLC andclamping power supply lines DPLA and DPLB form a loop in each word linegroup WG, and supplies the operation power supply voltage to word linedrivers 56 in the corresponding word line group. For example, clampingpower supply lines DPLA and DPLB are formed of the interconnection linesin the same layer as bit lines BL and /BL, and word line voltageadjusting circuit 58 having the same construction (transistorarrangement) as memory cell MC clamps the voltage of driver power supplyline DPLC at the level of voltage (VDD-Vthp).

Well potential supply portion TAP is arranged between word line groupsWG, and a well bias voltage is supplied to the well region in which eachmemory cell MC and word line voltage adjusting circuit 58 are arranged.Well potential supply portion TAP supplies the well voltage at apredetermined level to each of N-well regions for forming the P-channelMOS transistors (load transistors) of memory cells MC and P-well regionsfor forming the N-channel MOS transistors (access transistors and drivertransistors).

FIG. 33 shows a construction of a word line voltage adjusting circuit 58shown in FIG. 32. In FIG. 33, word line voltage adjusting circuit 58includes P-channel MOS transistor PQ30 that is connected between thepower supply node and clamp power supply line DPLA and has a gatecoupled to clamping power supply lines DPLA and DPLB, a P-channel MOStransistor PQ31 that is connected between the power supply node andclamping power supply line DPLB and has a gate coupled to clamping powersupply lines DPLA and DPLB, an N-channel MOS transistor NQ31 that isconnected between a node ND30 and the ground voltage and has a gatecoupled to clamping power supply lines DPLA and DPLB, an N-channel MOStransistor NQ32 that is connected between a node ND31 and the groundnode and has a gate coupled to clamping power supply lines DPLA andDPLB, an N-channel MOS transistor NQ33 that has a first conduction nodecoupled to node ND30 and has a gate connected to word line WL, and anN-channel MOS transistor NQ34 that has a first conduction node connectedto node ND31 and has a gate connected to word line WL.

Second conduction nodes of MOS transistors NQ33 and NQ34 are maintainedin the electrically floating state (open state). In memory cell MC, thesecond conduction nodes of the transistors corresponding to MOStransistors NQ33 and NQ34 are coupled to bit lines BL and /BL,respectively.

The electrically equivalent circuit of memory cell MC is the same asthat of memory cell MC shown in FIG. 2. Word line voltage adjustingcircuit 58 shown in FIG. 33 is aligned in the row direction to memorycells MC.

In the construction of word line voltage adjusting circuit 58 shown inFIG. 33, MOS transistors PQ30 and PQ31 operate in the diode mode toclamp the lower limit voltage levels of clamping power supply lines DPLAand DPLB at the level of voltage (VDD-Vthp), where Vthp represents theabsolute value of the threshold voltage of MOS transistors PQ30 andPQ31.

MOS transistors NQ31 and NQ32 are normally kept on by the voltages onclamping power supply lines DPLA and DPLB, and maintain the nodes ND30and ND31 at the ground voltage level, respectively. MOS transistors NQ33and NQ34 are selectively turned on according to the voltage level ofword line WL. However, the second conduction nodes corresponding to thenodes coupled to bit lines BL and /BL in the memory cell are in theelectrically floating state (open state), nodes ND30 and ND31 areisolated from clamping power supply lines DPLA and DPLB, and the on/offstates of MOS transistors NQ33 and NQ34 do not affect the clampedvoltage levels of clamping power supply lines DPLA and DPLB.

Gate capacitances of MOS transistors NQ33 and NQ34 serve as the loadcapacitance of the dummy cell for word line WL. As shown in FIG. 33, theelectrically equivalent circuit of word line voltage adjusting circuit58 is the same in the electrically equivalent circuit, but differs inthe connection of internal interconnection lines of the transistors inmemory cell MC with respect to the arrangement of the transistors inmemory cell MC (see FIG. 2).

The construction of the word line voltage adjusting circuit shown inFIG. 33 is the same as that of the level shifter shown in FIG. 29,except for that two clamping power supply lines DPLA and DPLB areemployed.

FIG. 34 shows a construction of word line driver 56 shown in FIG. 32. InFIG. 34, word line driver 56 includes P-channel MOS transistors PQ40 andNQ40 forming a CMOS inverter. A source node of MOS transistor PQ40 iscoupled to driver power supply line DPLC. When word line WL is selectedaccording to the word line select signal applied from the row decodershown in FIG. 32, MOS transistors PQ40 and NQ40 drive word line WL tothe level of the voltage on driver power supply line DPLC (the level ofthe clamped voltage on the clamping power supply line).

Memory cell MC has the same interconnection layout and the sametransistor arrangement as memory cell MC shown in FIG. 25, and thetransistor arrangement of word line voltage adjusting circuit 58 is thesame as that of memory cell MC. Therefore, the transistor arrangementsof memory cell MC and word line voltage adjusting circuit 58 arerepeated in the row direction. The current supplying power of thediode-connected clamping transistor in word line voltage adjustingcircuit 58 is the same as the load transistor in the memory cell.However, the word line voltage adjusting circuit is arrangedcorresponding to each word line included in word line group WG, andadjusts the voltage level of the word line driver power supply line inparallel. When a word line is selected, therefore, only one word line isdriven to the selected state in the corresponding word line group, andthe selected word line can be driven sufficiently rapidly to the levelof voltage (VDD-Vthp).

The memory cell and the word line voltage adjusting circuit employ thesame transistor arrangement, and the following description will be givenon the transistor arrangement and interconnection layout of word linevoltage adjusting circuit 58. The positional relationship between thetransistors in memory cell MC and the transistors in word line voltageadjusting circuit 58 is the same as that between the memory cell and thedummy cell shown in FIG. 25, with the dummy cell being replaced withword line voltage adjusting circuit 58.

FIG. 35 shows a layout of the active regions and the firstpolycrystalline silicon interconnection lines of word line voltageadjusting circuit 58. In FIG. 35, word line voltage adjusting circuit 58includes active regions 60 b and 60 c formed in an N-well, and activeregions 60 a and 60 d formed in P-wells on the opposite sides of theN-well, respectively. Each of active regions 60 a-60 d have arectangular form elongated in the Y direction.

A contact 64 c for the bit line and a contact 64 b for the groundvoltage are formed on the opposite ends in the Y direction of activeregion 60 a, respectively. A polycrystalline silicon interconnectionline 62 a extends in the X direction across active region 60 a. A wordline contact 64 a is formed at one end of polycrystalline siliconinterconnection line 62 a.

Active region 60 b is provided, at its opposite ends, with a powersupply contact 64 d and a shared contact 65 a, respectively. Activeregion 60 c is provided, at its lower end in the Y direction, with apower supply contact 64 e, and is provided, at an upper region in the Ydirection, with a shared contact 65 b. Shared contact 65 b is coupled toa polycrystalline silicon interconnection line 62 b that extends in theX direction across active regions 60 b and 60 a, and polycrystallinesilicon interconnection line 62 b is electrically coupled to activeregion 60 c.

Shared contact 65 a is electrically connected to a polycrystallinesilicon interconnection line 62 c that extends in the X direction acrossactive regions 60 c and 60 d. In this manner, active region 60 b iselectrically connected to polycrystalline silicon interconnection line62 c.

Active region 60 d is provided, at its opposite ends in the Y direction,with a bit line contact 64 f and a ground contact 64 g, respectively. Apolycrystalline silicon interconnection line 62 d extends in the Xdirection across active region 60 d, and is electrically coupled to wordline contact 64 d formed at a boundary region of word line voltageadjusting circuits 58.

The arrangement of transistors and the arrangement of gates in word linevoltage adjusting circuit 58 shown in FIG. 35 are substantially the sameas those of memory cell MC, and the transistor arrangement shown in FIG.35 is repeated in the X direction mirror-symmetrically betweenneighboring arrangements. Therefore, the arrangements of transistors andthe interconnection lines are the same in the X-direction arrangement inword line voltage adjusting circuit 58 and in the Y-directionarrangement in memory cell MC, and word line voltage adjusting circuit58 and memory cell MC can be arranged without affecting the layoutpattern of the memory cells in memory cell array. Since the word linevoltage adjusting circuit 58 and memory cell MC have the same transistorarrangement, the electric characteristics of the transistors in memorycell MC can be the same as the electric characteristics of each in wordline voltage adjusting circuit 58 transistor (manufacturing thesetransistors and the interconnection lines under the same conditions).

FIG. 36 schematically shows an interconnection line layout in a layerabove the transistor arrangement interconnection shown in FIG. 35. FIG.36 shows the layout of the first metal interconnection lines and viasconnected to the first metal interconnection lines. In FIG. 36, the samecontacts as those shown in FIG. 35 are allotted with the same referencenumerals, and description thereof is not repeated.

For word line contact 64 a arranged in a boundary region of word linevoltage adjusting circuit 58, there is arranged a first metalinterconnection line 70 a of a rectangular form elongated in the Ydirection. A via 72 b having a portion overlapping with word linecontact 64 a is formed on first metal interconnection line 70 a.

A first metal interconnection line 70 b of a rectangular form elongatedin the X direction is formed for ground contact 64 b (i.e., contact forgrounding). A via 72 a for connection to the ground line is formed at anend of first metal interconnection line 70 b.

For contact 64 c formed in a lower portion of active region 60 a shownin FIG. 35, a rectangular-shaped first metal interconnection line 70 cis formed, to provide an intermediate layer for the bit line.

A rectangular first metal interconnection line 70 d is formed for powersupply contact 64 d formed in the N-well active region (active region 60b in FIG. 35), and a via 72 d overlapping with power supply contact 64 dis formed on first metal interconnection line 70 d. A rectangular-shapedfirst metal interconnection line 70 f is formed for power supply contact64 e located under the active region in the N-well, and a via 72 eoverlapping with contact 64 e is formed in the layer above first metalinterconnection line 70 f. A first metal interconnection line 70 eextending in the X direction is contacted with shared contacts 65 a and65 b. Vias 72 c and 72 f are formed in the layer above first metalinterconnection line 70 e.

First metal interconnection line 70 e is formed in the samemanufacturing steps as the first metal interconnection lines employedfor connecting the internal storage nodes in the memory cell (MC). Inthe memory cell, contacts electrically connected to active regions 60 aand 60 d shown in FIG. 35 are arranged instead of vias 72 c and 72 f,and shared contacts 65 a and 65 b are electrically isolated (see FIG.25).

In word line voltage adjusting circuit 58, as shown in FIG. 36, thenodes corresponding to the storage nodes in the memory cell are mutuallyconnected by first metal interconnection line 70 e in the same layer asthe first metal interconnection lines employed for the storage nodeconnection in the memory cell, and the interconnection layout achievingthe diode connection of the load transistors in the memory cell isprovided.

A first metal interconnection line 70 g of a rectangular form is formedfor contact 64 f, and a first metal interconnection line 70 h of arectangular form elongated in the X direction is formed for contact 64g. A via 72 g is formed at an end of first metal interconnection line 70h. A first metal interconnection line 70 i elongated in the Y directionis formed for contact 64 d, and a via 72 h is formed for first metalinterconnection line 70 i. Word line voltage adjusting circuit 58 canhave an interconnection line layout point-symmetrical with respect tothe center thereof

FIG. 37 shows an interconnection layout in a layer above theinterconnection layout shown in FIG. 36. In FIG. 37, vias correspondingto those in FIG. 36 are allotted with the same reference numerals, anddescription thereof is not repeated.

In the interconnection layout shown in FIG. 37, a rectangular-shapedsecond metal interconnection line 74 a is arranged in a layer above via72 a, and is provided with a second via 76 a overlapping with via 72 a.

A rectangular second metal interconnection line 74 b elongated in the Ydirection is arranged for via 72 b, and a third via 76 b having aportion overlapping with via 72 b is arranged in a layer above secondmetal interconnection line 74 b. A second metal interconnection line 74c extending in the Y direction is arranged for via 72 c. Second metalinterconnection line 74 c forms a clamping power supply line DPLA, andcorresponds to bit line BL in memory cell MC.

A second metal interconnection line 74 d extending in the Y direction isconnected to vias 72 d and 72 e. Second metal interconnection line 74 dtransmits power supply voltage VDD for the memory cells.

A second metal interconnection line 74 e extending in the Y direction isarranged for via 72 f. Second metal interconnection line 74 e formsclamping power supply line DPLB, and forms complementary bit line /BL inmemory cell MC.

A rectangular-shaped first metal interconnection line 74 f elongated inthe Y direction is arranged for via 72 h, and a second via 76 c having aportion overlapping with via 72 h is arranged above first metalinterconnection line 74 f. A rectangular-shaped second metalinterconnection line 74 g is arranged for via 72 g. A via 76 doverlapping with via 72 g is formed on second metal interconnection line74 g.

Third metal interconnection lines 80 a, 80 b and 80 c each extending inthe X direction are arranged with spaces in between. Third metalinterconnection line 80 a is connected to second metal interconnectionline 74 a through second/third via 76 a. Third metal interconnectionline 80 b is coupled to second metal interconnection lines 74 f and 74 bthrough second vias 76 c and 76 b, respectively. Third metalinterconnection line 80 b corresponds to word line WL, and third metalinterconnection line 80 a corresponds to the ground line transmittingground voltage VSS.

Third metal interconnection line 80 c is coupled to second metalinterconnection line 74 g through via 76 d, and transmits ground voltageVSS.

Ground voltage VSS is transmitted to second metal interconnection lines74 a and 74 g through second/third vias 76 a and 76 d, respectively, andaccordingly, the ground voltage and the power supply voltage can betransmitted while preventing a collision between the ground line andpower supply line 74 d transmitting power supply voltage VDD in thememory cell.

In the structure shown in FIG. 37, the interconnection layout of memorycell MC is the same as that of word line voltage adjusting circuit 58,except for that vias 72 c and 72 f are not employed. Third metalinterconnection line 80 b forming word line WL, the ground line andthird metal interconnection lines 80 a and 80 c may be laid out toextend continuously in the X direction and corresponding to the memorycell row.

As shown in FIGS. 35-37, therefore, word line voltage adjusting circuit58 may be arranged by using the transistor arrangement in memory cell MCand using substantially the same interconnection layout as that, and thesame transistor arrangement as memory cell MC can be repeated. Also, thebit lines and clamping power supply lines are be arranged with the sameinterconnection layers and the same interconnection layout. Withoutadversely affecting the interconnection layout of the memory cell array,the power supply voltage of the word line driver can be clamped at thelevel of (VDD-Vthp), and the voltage level of the selected word line canbe adjusted according to and closely in linkage with the fluctuations inthreshold voltage of the load transistor in the memory cell.

Level shifter LSF includes the transistors arranged in the same layoutas memory cell MC. The transistor forming the level shifter may beconfigured to have the size ratio in a range from 0.8 to 2.0 withrespect to the corresponding load transistor in the memory cell,similarly to the second embodiment.

As described above, according to the sixth embodiment of the invention,the word line voltage adjusting circuit or the level shifter is formedin the same transistor arrangement and in substantially the sameinterconnection line layout as the memory cell is provided for adjustingthe voltage level of the selected word line voltage, and therefore, theword line voltage adjusting circuit can be arranged efficiently withoutadversely affecting the interconnection line layout of the memory cellarray.

The level shifter or the word line voltage adjusting circuit having thesame transistor arrangement as the memory cell are used, and theselected word line voltage level can be adjusted by accuratelyreflecting the word line voltage in the variations in electriccharacteristic of the memory cell transistor closely in linkage with theelectric characteristics of the transistors in the memory cell.

[Seventh Embodiment]

FIG. 38 schematically shows a whole construction of a semiconductormemory device according to a seventh embodiment of the invention. Thesemiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 38 differs from thesemiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 7 in the followingconstruction.

A word line voltage adjusting circuit 100 is arranged for pull-downelements PD arranged corresponding to respective word lines WL0-WLn forthe purpose of adjusting the number of the conductive transistors inthese pull-down elements, respectively. As already described in thesecond embodiment, pull-down element PD includes a plurality oftransistor elements coupled in parallel to the corresponding word line.The number of the transistor elements made conductive is adjustedaccording to a control signal group SMG applied for adjusting the staticnoise margin from word line voltage adjusting circuit 100. Thereby, thevoltage level of the selected word line in the read operation can beoptimized in the design stage. In the product manufacturing process, thenumber of the pull-down transistor elements made conductive is adjustedto compensate for variations in characteristic of the memory cell inlinkage with the characteristics of the memory cell, and thereby thevoltage on the selected word line is set to the optimum level.

Cell power supply interconnection lines PVLA are arranged correspondingto the memory cell columns, respectively. A write assist array powersupply circuit 108 adjusts the voltage levels of cell power supplyinterconnection lines PVLA in units of columns. Cell power supplyinterconnection line PVLA, of which construction will be describedlater, includes a cell power supply line transmitting a high-side powersupply voltage VDD to the memory cell and a down power supply line usedfor lowering the voltage level of the cell power supply line.

Write assist array power supply circuit 108 lowers the voltage level ofthe cell power supply line (VDD power supply line) in the selectedcolumn according to write instruction signal WE and a column selectsignal CSL in the data write operation, and thereby the operation marginin the write operation is increased. As already described in relationwith the second embodiment and others, read-assisting pull-down elementPD lowers the voltage level of a selected word line to decrease thedriving power of the access transistors, and thereby ensures the readmargin. In this case, lowering of the write margin may occur dependingon the power supply voltage level. For suppressing the decreasing ofwrite margin, the voltage level of the cell power supply line (VDD powersupply line) is slightly lowered to decrease the latching capability ofmemory cell MC, to increase the write margin. Thereby, fast writing andreading of data can be reliably and stably performed.

In the memory cell on the selected row and an unselected column, thevoltage level of the cell power supply line lowers, but a sufficientread margin is ensured because the access transistor has a small drivingpower. In the memory cell on an unselected row and the selected column,the access transistor is off, and the data can be stably held even whenthe high-side cell power supply voltage lowers.

FIGS. 39A and 39B show by way of example the constructions of pull-downelement PD and word line driver WDV shown in FIG. 38. In FIG. 39A, wordline drivers WDV are arranged corresponding to word lines WL0-WLn,respectively, and the corresponding word line is driven to the selectedstate according to the word line select signal (decode signal).

Since word line drivers WDV have the same construction, referencecharacters are assigned to the components of word line driver WDVarranged for word line WL0 in FIG. 39A. Word line driver WDV includesP-channel MOS transistor PQ15 for supplying power supply voltage VDD toa corresponding word line (WL0) according to the word line selectsignal, and N-channel MOS transistor NQ15 for discharging thecorresponding word line (WL0) to the ground voltage level according tothe word line select signal.

Memory cells MC are arranged corresponding to the crossings between thebit line pairs BL and /BL and word lines WL0-WLn, respectively. Memorycells MC have the same construction, and the construction of memory cellMC connected to word line WL0 is representatively shown. Memory cell MCincludes a flip-flop FF formed of an inverter latch for storing data,and an access transistors ATr connecting the internal storage nodes tobit lines BL and /BL in response to the signal on the corresponding wordline (WL0).

Since pull-down elements PD arranged corresponding to respective wordlines WL0-WLn have the same constructions, reference characters areassigned to components of pull-down element PD provided for word lineWL0 in FIG. 39A. Pull-down element PD includes a pull-down transistorDTra that is selectively made conductive to couple the correspondingword line to the ground node according to a pull-down control signalLSM, a pull-down transistor DTrb that is selectively made conductive tocouple the corresponding word line to the ground node according to apull-down control signal SM<0>, and a pull-down transistor DTrc that isselectively made conductive according to a pull-down control signalSM<1> to couple the corresponding word line (WL0) to the ground node.

Each of pull-down transistors DTra and DTrc is formed of a parallelconnection of transistors (replica transistors) having the samethreshold voltage characteristics (the same layout) as access transistorATr in memory cell MC. In the example shown in FIG. 39A, each ofpull-down transistors DTra and DTrb is formed of four replica accesstransistors ATr, and pull-down transistor DTrc is formed of eightreplica access transistors ATr.

FIG. 39B shows a construction of pull-down transistor DTr (one oftransistors DTra-DTrc) shown in FIG. 39A. In FIG. 39B, pull-downtransistor DTr (DTra, DTrb or DTrc) includes a plurality of unittransistors (replica access transistors) UATr connected in parallelbetween word line WL and the ground node. Unit transistors UATr eachhave the same layout as access transistor ATr in memory cell MC, and arearranged for the word line with the same gate electrode pitch and thesame gate-contact distance as those of access transistors ATr in memorycell MC. The layout of the pull-down transistor will be described later.

Unit transistors UAtr of k in number are arranged in parallel, and aremade conductive in parallel according to control signals SM (LSM, SM<0>and SM<1>). Assuming that each unit transistor has on-resistance Rn, thecombined on-resistance of k unit transistors UATr is equal to Rn/k.Therefore, the control signals can set the number of unit transistorsUATr to be made conductive, whereby the resistance ratio to theon-resistance of pull-up transistor PQ15 of word line driver WDV can beadjusted, so that the selected word line can be set to the optimumvoltage level.

As shown in FIG. 39A, pull-down element PD includes pull-down transistorDTr formed of the transistors (replica access transistors) that have thesame layout as access transistors ATr in memory cell MC. Therefore, thetransistor parameters of pull-down element PD such as the thresholdvoltage characteristics and the on-resistance can reflect the variationsin transistor parameters of the drive transistors included in flip-flopFF through access transistors ATr in memory cell MC. Similarly to theforegoing case where the pull-down element is formed of the dummy cellsin FIG. 22, therefore, the potential drop quantity of each of word linesWL0-WLn can be adjusted according to the degree of fluctuations inthreshold voltage of access transistors ATr in memory cell MC, so thatthe decreasing of the static noise margin of memory cell MC can besuppressed, and the read margin can be increased.

In particular, control signals LSM, SM<0> and SM<1> are used forselectively making conductive pull-down transistors DTra, DTrb and DTrcin pull-down element PD. By this construction, the combinedon-resistance of pull-down element PD can be minutely andsophisticatedly adjusted. In the design stage, the dividing ratio of theresistance-dividing circuit determined by the on-resistance of P-channelMOS transistor PQ15 included in word line driver WDV and the combinedon-resistance of pull-down element PD can be set to the optimum valueaccording to the characteristics of memory cell MC. When starting up theproduction, the voltage level of the selected word line is finelyadjusted with these control signals before the manufacturing process issettled in the manufacturing steps, and thereby the read and writemargins are optimized. In the mass-production stage where themanufacturing process is established, the word line voltage level isadjusted according to the margin of the memory cell, and thereby theproduct yield can be improved.

Control signals LSM, SM<0> and SM<1> are included in control signalgroup SMG applied from word line voltage adjusting circuit 100 shown inFIG. 38. In the test steps of the semiconductor memory device, tests areperformed on the characteristics such as read and write margins bysuccessively and selectively driving control signals LSM, SM<0> andSM<1> to the selected state. According to the result of these tests,control signals LSM, SM<0> and SM<1> have the potential levels fixed,e.g., by a fuse program circuit.

Control signal LSM may be configured to be normally to the selectionstate as a so-called “default”. When only one control signal LSM is keptactive, and both control signals SM<0> and SM<1> are kept in theunselected state, the resistance value of the pull-down element takesthe maximum value, the potential of the selected word line lowers aminimum quantity, and memory cell MC has maximum static noise marginSNM. As static noise margin SNM decreases, the number of pull-down unittransistors UATr kept is increased.

FIG. 40 specifically shows a construction of a main portion of asemiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 38. FIG. 40 shows memory cellsMCa and MCb arranged in one row and two columns as typical examples ofmemory cells MC. Each of word lines WLa-WLc is connected to memory cellsMC. Word line driver WDV and pull-down element PD are arranged for eachof word lines WLa-WLc. Control signal group SMG shown in FIGS. 39A and39B selectively turns on unit transistors (replica access transistors)UATr in pull-down element PD. FIG. 40 does not show the unit transistorsthat are kept off. Since the control signals in control signal group SMGare set to the power supply voltage level when in selected state, FIG.40 shows the state in which the gates of turned-on unit transistors UATrin pull-down element PD are connected to the power supply node.

Memory cell MCa is connected to bit lines BLa and /BLa, and memory cellMCb is coupled to bit lines BLb and /BLb.

Cell power supply interconnection lines PVLA includes cell power supplylines ARVD (ARVDa and ARVDb) and down power supply lines DWVD (DWVDa andDWVDb). Cell ground lines ARVS each extending linearly in the columndirection are arranged for memory cells MCa and MCb, respectively. Cellground line ARVS is shared between two memory cells adjacent to eachother in the row direction. Cell power supply lines ARVDa and ARVDb arecoupled to high-side power supply nodes VH of memory cells MCa and MCbin the corresponding columns, and have parasitic capacitances CP0,respectively. Each of down power supply lines DWVDa and DWVDb likewisehas a parasitic capacitance CP1 caused by its line capacitance.

Down power supply lines DWVDa and DWVDb corresponding to the two columnsare commonly connected. Cell power supply line ARVD is connected tohigh-side power supply node VH of the memory cells in the correspondingcolumn. In the read operation and standby state, down power supply lineDWD is coupled to the ground node, and is not connected to the memorycells. Therefore, the line capacitance of cell power supply line ARDV islarger than that of down power supply line DWDV because there is aparasitic capacitance of the load transistors of the memory cells. Foreliminating this difference in line capacitance to lower the voltagelevel of the cell power supply line in the selected state, a pluralityof down power supply lines DVDW are handled as one group, and arecoupled to cell power supply line ARDV in the selected column.

Write assist array power supply circuit 108 adjusts the voltage level ofthe cell power supply line on a column-by-column basis, or in units ofmemory cell columns in the data write operation. Specifically, writeassisting array power supply circuit 108 includes a P-channel MOStransistor (insulated gate field effect transistor) 110 a that isrendered conductive to couple cell power supply line ARVDa to the powersupply node when a write column instruction signal WE[n] is unselected,an N-channel MOS transistor 111 a that is rendered conductive to couplecell power supply line ARVDa to down power supply lines DWVDa and DWVDbwhen write column select signal WE[n] is selected, a P-channel MOStransistor 110 b that is rendered conductive to couple cell power supplyline ARVDb to the power supply node when write column instruction signalWE[n+1] is unselected, an N-channel MOS transistor 111 b that isrendered conductive to couple cell power supply line ARVDb to down powersupply lines DWVDa and DWVDb when write column instruction signalWE[n+1] is selected, and an N-channel MOS transistor 112 that isrendered conductive to couple down power supply lines DWVDa and DWVDb tothe ground node when a write instruction signal WEZ is inactive (duringstandby or in the data read operation).

Write column instruction signals WE[n] and WE[n+1] are driven to theselected state (H-level) when the corresponding memory cell columns (bitlines BLa and /BLa, and BLb and /BLb) are selected in the data writeoperation. Write instruction signal WEZ is set to the L level in thewrite mode. In the write mode, therefore, down power supply lines DWVDaand DWVDb are maintained in the electrically floating state at theground voltage level. Cell power supply line ARVD (ARVDa or ARVDb) inthe write column is connected to down power supply lines DWVDa andDWVDb. Therefore, through the capacitance division by the capacitancecircuit of parasitic capacitances CP0 and 2·CP1 of charges accumulatedon cell power supply line ARDV, the voltage level of cell power supplyline ARVD (ARVDa or ARVDb) lowers in the selected column.

FIG. 41 represents the operation of write assist array power supplycircuit 108 shown in FIG. 40.

In the read cycle during which data reading is performed, word linedriver WDV corresponding to a selected row drives corresponding wordline WL to the selected state. In this operation, pull-down element PDsets the voltage on the selected word line WL to the level lower thanthe array power supply voltage (bit line precharge voltage). When wordline WL is driven to the selected state, access transistors ATr (NQ3 andNQ4) of the memory cell in the corresponding row turns conductive tolower the voltage level of the bit line (/BL) connected to the storagenode storing the L level data.

In the read cycle, both write column instruction signals WE[n] andWE[n+1] are at the L level, and write instruction signal WEZ is at the Hlevel. In write assist array power supply circuit 108, therefore, MOStransistors 110 a and 110 b are in the on state, and MOS transistors 111a and 111 b are in the off state. Therefore, high-side power supply nodeVH of each memory cell is supplied with the cell power supply voltagevia cell power supply line ARVD (ARVDa or ARVDb). The access transistorhas a small conductance, and accordingly, the current driving power issmall so that the static noise margin of the memory cell in thisselected row is large, and the data can be stably read.

In the write cycle during which data writing is performed, writeinstruction signal WEZ is set to the L level, and MOS transistor 112 inwrite assist array power supply circuit 108 is in the off state.Thereby, down power supply lines DWVDa and DWVDb enter the floatingstate at the ground voltage level. The write column instruction signal(WE[n]) for each column is driven to the H level according to the writeinstruction signal and the column select signal that is applied from thecolumn select circuit according to a column address signal (not shown).Accordingly, MOS transistor 110 a is turned off, and MOS transistor 111a is turned on, so that cell power supply line ARVDa for memory cell MCais isolated from the power supply node, and is electrically connected todown power supply lines DWVDa and DWVDb. The charges accumulated inparasitic capacitance CP0 of cell power supply line ARVDa aredistributed to parasitic capacitances CP1 of down power supply linesDWVDa and DWVDb, and the voltage level of cell power supply line ARVDalowers in proportion to the capacitance ratio between parasiticcapacitances CP0 and CP1.

FIG. 41 shows a state in which cell power supply line ARVDa and downpower supply line DWVDa are maintained at different levels,respectively. This is because the on-resistances of switching MOStransistors 111 a and 111 b cause the voltage distribution (gradation).Since parasitic capacitance CP0 of cell power supply line ARDV is muchgreater than parasitic capacitance CP1 of down power supply line DVDW,the degree of potential drop of cell power supply line ARVD issufficiently small even when these power supply lines ARDV and DWDV areat the same voltage level, and therefore the data held in an unselectedmemory cell is not destructed. When cell power supply line ARDV and downpower supply line DWDV have the same potential, a voltage Vs on theselines is expressed by the following equation:Vs=CP0·VDD·(CP0+CP1).

When switching MOS transistors 111 a and 111 b are configured to haverelatively large on-resistances and cell power supply line ARDV and downpower supply line DWDV are intentionally set to the different voltagelevels, respectively, lowering of the voltage level of cell power supplyline ARVDa can be reliably suppressed, and it is possible to inhibit thestatic noise margin of the unselected memory cell from lowering toinvert the held data.

The lowered voltage of the cell power supply line is merely required tobe at the level that can compensate for the lowering of the write margincaused by lowering of the driving power of the access transistor due tolowering of the voltage level of the selected word line, and cansufficiently maintain the static noise margin of the unselected memorycell.

The power supply voltage of cell power supply line ARVDa is connected tohigh-side power supply node VH of memory cell MCa. Therefore, load MOStransistors PQ1 and PQ2 have small current driving powers (because thesource voltage lowers to decrease the source to gate voltage of the loadtransistor receiving L level data on the gate). The current drivingpower of access transistors ATr (NQ3 and NQ4) are the same as that inthe data read operation, and does not change. Therefore, the writemargin of memory cell MCa in the selected column increases, and thestorage node storing the H level data is quickly discharged to the Llevel according to the write data. Thus, data can be written fast intothe selected memory cell according to the data transmitted onto bitlines BL and /BL.

When the data writing is completed, the bit line load circuit restoresbit lines BL and /BL to the array power supply voltage level, and wordline WL is driven to the unselected state. Then, write column selectsignal WE[n] attains the unselected state, and MOS transistor 111 a isturned off, and MOS transistor 110 a and 112 are turned on.Responsively, down power supply lines DWVDa and DWVDb are driven to theground voltage level again, and cell power supply line ARVDa returns tothe array power supply voltage level.

FIG. 42 shows, on an enlarged scale, signal waveforms in a region Irepresented by broken line in FIG. 41. In FIG. 42, the ordinate axismeasures the voltage (V), and the abscissa axis measures the time (ns).As shown in FIG. 42, when write column select signal WE[n] is driven tothe selected state, the voltage level of cell power supply line ARVDlowers fast. This is caused not by charging from the power supply nodebut merely through movement of charges between the capacitances. Sincethe charges move fast between the conductive lines (power supply lines),the voltage level of cell power supply line ARVD in the selected columncan be dropped fast. For example, the voltage level of the cell powersupply line lowers about 100 mV when 0.3 ns elapses after start of thewrite operation.

Only the movement of charges is caused through the use of the parasiticcapacitances of the down and cell power supply lines, and it is notnecessary to switch the voltage on this cell power supply line in thewrite and read operations through the use of another power supply line,so that the construction of the power supply circuitry can be madesimple. The movement of charges occurs merely between the capacitanceelements, and a path conducting a through-current is not present betweenthe cell power supply line and the ground node in the write cycle, sothat the power consumption can be low.

The voltage level of cell power supply line ARVDa in the write operationcan be adjusted by setting the capacitance ratio of an appropriate valuebetween parasitic capacitance CP0 of cell power supply line ARVD (ARVDaand ARVDb) and parasitic capacitance CP1 of down power supply line DWVD(DWVDa and DWVDb). According to the voltage level of the selected wordline set by the pull-down element, the voltage level of the cell powersupply line in the selected column is set to an optimum level in thewrite operation.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 40, down power supply lines DWVDa andDWVDb arranged in two columns are short-circuited or electricallycoupled to cell power supply line ARVD (ARVDa or ARVDb) in the selectedcolumn during the data write operation. However, each down power supplyline may be arranged for four columns depending on the voltage level ofthe cell power supply line in the write operation and the capacitancevalues of parasitic capacitances CP0 and CP1, and the cell power supplyline in the selected column may be coupled to the corresponding downpower supply line. Further, the cell power supply line in the selectedcolumn may be coupled to one down power supply line.

FIG. 43 shows an example of a construction of a portion for generatingwrite instruction signal WEZ and write column instruction signal WE[n]shown in FIG. 40. In FIG. 43, an NAND circuit 120 included in maincontrol circuit 7 shown in FIG. 38 generates write instruction signalWEZ. NAND circuit 120 externally receives write enable signal WE andchip enable signal CE, and sets write instruction signal WEZ to the Llevel indicative of the active state when both the signals WE and CE areactive (H level).

Write column instruction signal WE[n] is produced from an AND circuit126 that receives write instruction signal WEZ applied via an inverter124 and column select signal CSL[n] applied from column decode circuit122. AND circuit 126 is arranged for each column in the memory cellarray, and produces write column instruction signal WE[i] for thecorresponding column according to column select signal CSLi in the writeoperation.

Column decode circuit 122 is included in column select circuit 4 shownin FIG. 38. When chip enable signal CE is active, column decode circuit122 decodes column address signal CA received from main control circuit7, and drives column select signal CSL[n] corresponding to the selectedcolumn to the H level indicative of the selected state.

Write column instruction signal WE[n] turns active and attains the Hlevel when write instruction signal WEZ is at the L level indicating thewrite mode and column select signal CSL[n] is at the H level todesignate the corresponding column (bit line pair BLa and /BLa).

According to the seventh embodiment of the invention, as describe above,the pull-down element is formed of a plurality of unit transistors(replica access transistors) selectively set to the on state accordingto the control signals. In the design stage, therefore, the word linevoltage level for the read operation can be finely adjusted until theword line voltage level is set to the optimum value, and the word linevoltage level achieving the optimum operation characteristics can beachieved. In the actual mass-production stage, the number of the replicaaccess transistors to be turned on can be adjusted in each productaccording to the variations in threshold voltage of the memory cells,and thereby the optimum voltage level can be set.

The write assist array power supply circuit is used, and the voltagelevel of the cell power supply line arranged for each column is loweredby the movement of charges between the parasitic capacitances caused bythe electric coupling to the down power supply line. Even in the casewhere the voltage level of the selected word line is low, the level ofthe high-side power supply voltage of the selected memory cell israpidly lowered in the data write operation so that the write margin canbe increased. Thereby, it is possible to provide the semiconductormemory device that can stably and rapidly write and read the data evenwith a low power supply voltage.

In the foregoing description, word lines WL have the non-hierarchicalconfiguration. However, the word lines may have a hierarchical word lineconfiguration divided into main words lines and sub-word lines asalready described in the previous embodiment. Pull-down element PD isarranged for each sub-word line.

[Layout of Pull-Down Element]

Pull-down element PD arranged for each word line is implemented by usingthe replica transistors (having the same layout and the thresholdvoltage characteristics as the access transistors) of the accesstransistors included in the memory cell. Since the replica transistorsof the access transistors of the memory cells are arranged, the replicatransistors having the same layout as the access transistors in thememory cells can be formed through the same manufacturing steps as thememory cells, similarly to the case (fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 22)of using the dummy cells already described in connection with theforegoing embodiment. Description will now be given on the layout of thereplica access transistors forming the pull-down elements and the layoutof the memory cells.

FIG. 44 shows a layout of active regions, first metal interconnectionlines and components formed in a memory cell array. In FIG. 44, N-typeactive regions 130 a-130 e extend linearly in the column direction withspaces in between. N-type active regions 130 a-130 e are formed inP-well regions. In these N-type active regions 130 a-130 e, the accesstransistors and drive transistors (N-channel MOS transistors) of memorycells MC are formed.

In the layout of the memory cell array shown in FIG. 44, the arrangementof memory cells MC that form mirror images symmetrical with respect to aboundary in between is repeated in the row and column directions. InFIG. 44, therefore, reference characters are assigned to theinterconnection lines and contacts for memory cell MC for the sake ofsimplicity. In the region of memory cell MC, P-type active regions 132 aand 132 b each having a rectangular form elongated in the columndirection are arranged being staggered and spaced from each other. Loadtransistors (P-channel MOS transistors) are formed in P-type activeregions 132 a and 132 b.

A gate electrode 133 a extends in the row direction across N-type activeregion 130 b. Gate electrode 133 a is electrically connected to firstmetal interconnection line FM1 through a contact CC1. First metalinterconnection line FM1 has a rectangular form elongated in the columndirection, and is used as an intermediate layer for making contact withthe interconnection line in an upper layer.

Active regions 130 b and 132 a are electrically coupled by first metalinterconnection line FM3 to a contact CC3 and a shared contact SCTa.Shared contact SCTa is electrically connected to a gate electrode 133 bextending in the row direction, and couples active region 132 a to gateelectrode 133 b. Gate electrode 133 b extends in the row directionacross active regions 132 b and 132 c, and is arranged in the region ofmemory cell MC.

In the boundary region of memory cells MC, first metal interconnectionlines FM2 and FM4 are arranged adjacent to gate electrodes 133 a and 133b, respectively. First metal interconnection lines FM2 and FM4 areconnected to active regions 130 b and 132 b through contacts CC2 andCC4, respectively.

Active region 132 b is also coupled to active region 130 c via a firstmetal interconnection line FM7. First metal interconnection line FM7 iscoupled to impurity region 130 c through contact CC7, and is coupled toimpurity active region 132 b and a gate electrode 133 c through sharedcontact SCTb. Gate electrode 133 c is arranged extending in the rowdirection across active regions 132 a and 130 b within in memory cellMC.

First metal interconnection lines FM5 and FM6 are arranged adjacent togate electrode 133 c. First metal interconnection line FM5 iselectrically coupled to impurity region 130 b through contact CC5, andfirst metal interconnection line FM6 is coupled to active region 132 athrough a contact CC6.

A gate electrode 133 d crossing impurity regions 130 c and 130 d arealigned in the row direction with gate electrode 133 c with a space inbetween. Gate electrode 133 d is coupled to a first metalinterconnection line FM9 through a contact CC9.

A first metal interconnection line FM10 is arranged facing first metalinterconnection line FM9 and gate electrode 133 b. First metalinterconnection line FM10 is electrically connected to active region 130c through a contact CC10, and is coupled to active region 130 b via acontact (CC).

The above arrangement of memory cell MC is mirror-symmetrically repeatedin the row and column directions, first metal interconnection lines FM,shared contacts SCT, P-type active regions 132 and contacts CC arearranged, and memory cells MC are arranged in rows and columns.

As shown in FIG. 44, all the gate electrodes have rectangular formselongated in the row direction, respectively, and the gate electrodesand contacts are arranged at equal pitches in the column direction inactive regions 132 a-132 e. Therefore, the access transistors and drivetransistors can be arranged in the same pattern, and variations incharacteristic of these transistors can be suppressed.

The active region extends linearly in the column direction. Therefore,all the interconnection lines and the active regions are arrangedlinearly in the layout, which simplifies the layout of the memory cells,and can eliminate the influence of the edge effect of theinterconnection lines.

FIG. 45 shows a layout of the gate electrodes and the first metalinterconnection lines shown in FIG. 44 as well as second metalinterconnection lines in the upper layer. In FIG. 45, second metalinterconnection lines 134 a-134 g each corresponding to the N-typeactive region and the two columns of the P-type active regions extendlinearly in the column direction. Second metal interconnection lines 134b and 134 d arranged corresponding to N-type active regions 134 b and134 c in FIG. 44 form bit lines BL and /BL, respectively, and secondmetal interconnection line 134 c arranged corresponding to P-type activeregions 132 a and 132 b in FIG. 44 forms cell power supply line ARVD,and transmits the cell power supply voltage to the load transistors inmemory cells MC in the corresponding column.

In FIG. 45, the interconnection layout for memory cell MC is repeatedmirror-symmetrically in the row and column directions, so that thereference characters are assigned to only the interconnection lines ofmemory cell MC.

In FIG. 45, gate electrodes 133 a-133 d correspond to gate electrodeinterconnection lines 133 a-133 d shown in FIG. 44, respectively. Firstmetal interconnection line FM1 provided for gate electrodeinterconnection line 133 a is coupled to second metal interconnectionline SM1 through via VV1. Likewise, first metal interconnection line FM5is coupled to second metal interconnection line SM2 through via VV2.This second′ metal interconnection line SM2 is used for transmitting acell ground voltage ARVSS.

First metal interconnection line FM2 is electrically coupled to secondmetal interconnection line 134 b through via VV3. Likewise, first metalinterconnection line FM4 is coupled to second metal interconnection line134 through a via VV5. First metal interconnection line FM6 is coupledto second metal interconnection line 134 c through via VV3.

First metal interconnection line FM8 is coupled to second metalinterconnection line 134 d through a via VV6. Likewise, first metalinterconnection line FM9 coupled to gate electrode 133 d is coupled tosecond metal interconnection line SM4 through a via VV8.

First metal interconnection line FM10 is coupled to second metalinterconnection line SM3 through a via VV7. Second metal interconnectionline SM3 coupled to via VV3 is used for transmitting the cell groundvoltage. These second metal interconnection lines SM1-SM4 are used asintermediate layers for making electric contact between thecorresponding first metal interconnection lines and upper layerinterconnection lines.

First metal interconnection lines FM3 and FM7 connect the transistors tothe storage nodes in memory cell MC, and are not connected to the metalinterconnection lines in an upper layer.

Similarly to the arrangement in memory cell MC, vias VV, first metalinterconnection lines FM and second metal interconnection lines SM arearranged in the memory cell array mirror-symmetrically aligned in therow and column directions.

FIG. 46 schematically shows the layout of the second and third metalinterconnection lines in the memory cell array together with the layoutof the gate electrodes. FIG. 46 shows gate electrodes 133 a-133 darranged for memory cell MC.

In FIG. 46, third metal interconnection lines 136 a-136 c extendcontinuously and linearly in the row direction with spaces in between.Third metal interconnection lines 136 a-136 c have mirror-symmetricalinterconnection layout at connection portions to the access transistorsin the column direction.

In FIG. 46, the reference characters are assigned to the components ofmemory cell MC, and are not assigned to other portions. The aboveinterconnection line layout for memory cell MC is mirror-symmetricallyrepeated in the row and column directions.

In the region of memory cell MC, third metal interconnection line 136 bis coupled through a via VW1 to second metal interconnection line SM1coupled to gate electrode 133 a. Likewise, third metal interconnectionline 136 b is coupled through a via VW4 to second metal interconnectionline SM4 coupled to gate electrode 133 b. Second metal interconnectionline SM2 is coupled to a third metal interconnection line TM1 through avia VW2. In memory cell MC, second metal interconnection line SM3arranged at point-symmetrical portion to second metal interconnectionline SM2 is coupled through a via VW3 to a third metal interconnectionline TM2.

Each of third metal interconnection lines 136 a-136 c forms word lineWL, and transmits a row select signal. Accordingly, each of third metalinterconnection lines 136 a-136 c is electrically coupled at eachcontact portion to the gate electrodes of the two access transistors.

FIG. 47 shows the layout of third and fourth metal interconnection linesin the memory cell array together with the interconnection layout of thegate electrodes according to the seventh embodiment of the invention. InFIG. 47, the gate electrodes in memory cell MC are assigned referencenumerals 133 a-133 d, respectively. The interconnection layout of memorycell MC is mirror-symmetrically repeated in the row and columndirections.

In FIG. 47, fourth metal interconnection lines 140 a-140 h extendlinearly in the column direction, and substantially overlap with thesecond metal interconnection lines shown in FIG. 46 in the planarlayout. For memory cell MC, fourth metal interconnection line 140 b iscoupled to third metal interconnection line TM1 through a via VX1. Thirdmetal interconnection line TM1 is coupled to active region 130 b shownin FIG. 44, and is coupled to a source node of the drive transistor inthe memory cell. Fourth metal interconnection line 140 b is used as cellground line ARVS transmitting the cell ground voltage.

Fourth metal interconnection line 140 d substantially overlaps withsecond metal interconnection line 134 c shown in FIG. 46 in the planarlayout. Fourth metal interconnection line 140 d is used as down powersupply line DWVD, is not connected to a component of memory cell MC, andis selectively and electrically connected to the cell power supply (seeFIG. 45) formed in the lower layer in the data write operation.

Fourth metal interconnection line 140 f is likewise coupled to thirdmetal interconnection line TM2 through a via VX2 in memory cell MC. Asshown in FIG. 44, third metal interconnection line TM2 is coupled toactive region 130 c, and is coupled to the source nodes of the drivetransistors in memory cell MC. Fourth metal interconnection line 140 ais used as cell ground line ARVS.

Fourth metal interconnection lines 140 a, 140 c, 140 e and 140 g are notcoupled to memory cell MC. These fourth metal interconnection line 140a, 140 c, 140 e and 140 g may be used, e.g., as signal lines fortransmitting control signals (write column select signal) for adjustingthe voltage level of the cell power supply line or the write instructionsignal in the data write operation. Also, these interconnection linesmay be used as an interconnection line layer transmitting some othercontrol signals. Further, these may be used merely as shield lines forthe bit lines.

FIG. 48 shows an electrically equivalent circuit of memory cell MC shownin FIGS. 44-47. In FIG. 48, memory cell MC includes N-channel MOStransistors NQ3 and NQ1 which are arranged in N-type active region 130b, and form the access transistor and the drive transistor,respectively. P-channel MOS transistors PQ1 and PQ2 serving as the loadtransistors are formed in P-type active regions 132 a and 132 b,respectively. N-channel MOS transistors NQ2 and NQ4 serving as the drivetransistor and the access transistor, respectively, are arranged inN-type active region 130 c.

MOS transistor NQ3 has a gate coupled to word line WL, and is coupled atone conduction nodes to bit line BL and at the other conduction node todrains of MOS transistors NQ1 and PQ1. MOS transistor NQ1 is coupled atits source to cell ground line ARVS. MOS transistor 132 a is coupled atits source to cell power supply line ARVD.

Gates of these MOS transistors NQ1 and PQ1 are coupled through theshared contact shown in FIG. 44 and the first metal interconnectionlines to the drains of MOS transistors PQ2, NQ2 and NQ4. Gates of MOStransistors PQ2 and NQ2 are coupled to the drains of MOS transistorsNQ3, NQ1 and PQ1. Sources of MOS transistors PQ2 and NQ2 are coupled tocell power supply line ARVD and cell ground line ARVS, respectively. Asource of MOS transistor NQ4 is coupled to bit line /BL.

Therefore, for memory cells MC, the active region extending continuouslyin the column direction is used, and the cell power supply line and thecell ground line linearly extend in the column direction. Thus, thevoltage levels of the cell power supply lines can be easily adjusted ona column-by-column basis, or in units of memory cell columns. Inparticular, by using the fourth metal interconnection lines to arrangethe down power supply lines DWVD continuously extending in the columndirection, the connection between the cell power supply lines and thedown power supply lines can be controlled in units of memory cellcolumns, and the voltage level of cell power supply lines ARDV can beeasily adjusted in units of memory cell columns in the write operation.

FIG. 49 shows a planar layout of the unit transistors (replica accesstransistors) forming the pull-down elements. FIG. 49 shows the activeregions, gate electrodes and the voltages on the first interconnectionlines.

In FIG. 49, N-type active regions 152 extend linearly in the columndirection with spaces in between. Gate electrodes 150 are arranged inalignment in the row and column directions. Each gate electrode 150crosses two active regions 152. Each gate electrode column is arrangedcorresponding to two active regions.

Two gate electrodes 150 adjacent to each other in the column directionare coupled to a first metal interconnection line 154 through contacts156 a and 156 b, respectively. In active region 152, gate electrodes 150and first metal interconnection lines 155 are arranged alternately toeach other. Each first metal interconnection line 155 is arranged fortwo active regions adjacent to each other in the row direction, and iselectrically connected to contacts 157 a and 157 b to correspondingactive regions 152, respectively.

These active regions 152 and gate electrodes 150 are fabricated inparallel when fabricating N-type active regions 130 and gate electrodes133 of the memory cells.

A width La in the row direction of active region 152 and a distance Lbbetween active regions 152 adjacent in the row direction are equal tothe width and the pitch of the active regions (130 a and 130 b) of theaccess transistors at the memory cell boundary region shown in FIG. 44.A width Lc in the column direction of gate electrode 150 is equal tothose of gate electrodes 133 (133 a and 133 b) shown in FIG. 44, and apitch Le of gate electrode 150 is equal to the pitch of the adjacentaccess transistors in the memory cells shown in FIG. 44. Further,distances Ld and Lf between gate electrode 150 and the adjacent contactsare equal to those in the access transistors arranged in the memory cellboundary region shown in FIG. 44. The length of gate electrode 150 inthe row direction is equal to the length in the row direction of gateelectrode 133 of the memory cell.

Therefore, the unit transistors (replica access transistors) of thepull-down elements in FIG. 49 are the same in figure parameters andlayout parameters as the access transistors in the memory cells shown inFIG. 44. Active region 152 has the same impurity concentration as activeregions 130 a and 130 b shown in FIG. 44. Thereby, the unit transistors(replica access transistors) of the pull-down element have the same theelectric characteristics as the access transistors in the memory cell.Thus, the on-resistance of the pull-down element can be automaticallyadjusted according to and closely in linkage with fluctuations inelectric characteristics caused by variations in manufacturingparameters of the access transistors in the memory cells, and thevoltage level of the selected word line can be set to the optimum valueaccording to the characteristics of the memory cells.

In each active region 152, the gate electrodes can be arranged with theequal pitch in the column direction, and thus the unit transistors forpull-down can be arranged at a high density. Accordingly, even in theconstruction having a plurality of unit transistors arranged for eachword line, the unit transistors for pull-down can be arranged in thememory cell array while suppressing increase in layout area of thememory cell array.

FIG. 50 shows a layout of the second metal interconnection lines of thepull-down elements according to the seventh embodiment of the invention.FIG. 50 also shows a layout of gate electrodes 150. In FIG. 50, secondmetal interconnection lines 160 extend linearly in the column direction,two active regions 152 are located between adjacent second metalinterconnection lines 160. Second metal interconnection line 160 iselectrically connected through a via 161 to first metal interconnectionline 154 formed in a lower layer. Each via 161 is arranged for two gateelectrodes 150 adjacent in the column direction. Each via 161 is usedfor selecting four transistors laid around concurrently.

A second metal interconnection line 162 is arranged corresponding tofirst metal interconnection line 155 electrically connecting adjacentactive regions 152. Second metal interconnection line 162 is connectedthrough a via 163 to first metal interconnection line 155 in a lowerlayer. Second metal interconnection lines 160 and 162 are fabricatedconcurrently in manufacturing of the bit lines and cell power supplylines of the memory cells.

As shown in FIG. 50, therefore, second metal interconnection lines 160and 162 make the electric connections to first metal interconnectionlines 154 and 155 isolated from each other, and vias 161 and 163 formaking the electric connections are aligned in the row directions. Vias163 are arranged correspond to first metal interconnection lines 155,and for the respective rows. Thus, the source of each unit transistorcan be coupled to the ground node.

FIG. 51 shows a layout of third metal interconnection lines of thepull-down elements according to the seventh embodiment of the invention.FIG. 51 also shows gate electrodes 150 and second metal interconnectionlines 160 (160 a, 160 b and 160 c).

In FIG. 51, third metal interconnection lines 165 each arranged for twogate electrode rows extend continuously in the row direction. Thirdmetal interconnection lines 165 are formed in the same steps as thethird metal interconnection lines (136 a-136 c) forming the word linesin the memory cell array, and are coupled thereto. Third metalinterconnection lines 165 are connected to second metal interconnectionlines 162 shown in FIG. 50 through vias 166, respectively. Second metalinterconnection line 162 electrically connects the adjacent activeregions. Therefore, one via 166 connects the drain regions of the twotransistors to third metal interconnection line 165 forming thecorresponding word line.

Third metal interconnection lines 165 and 167 are arranged alternatelyin the column direction between second metal interconnection lines 160(160 a-160 c). Each third metal interconnection line 167 is arranged forsecond metal interconnection line 162, and is electrically connected tocorresponding second metal interconnection line 162 through a via 168.Third metal interconnection line 167 is used as a contact fortransmitting the cell ground voltage.

Each third metal interconnection line 165 forming word line WL isarranged for two gate electrodes 150 adjacent in the column direction.Therefore, third metal interconnection lines 165 can be arranged at thesame interconnection line pitch Lw1 as third metal interconnection lines136 a-136 c shown in FIG. 46, and the third metal interconnection linesthat continuously and linearly extend to form word lines WL can bearranged for the unit transistors (replica access transistors) of thepull-down elements and memory cells.

Second metal interconnection lines 160 a, 160 b and 160 c transmit thecontrol signals SM<0>, SM<1> and LSM, respectively.

Each of second metal interconnection lines 160 a-160 c selects four unittransistors (replica access transistors) UATr per one word line.Specifically, it selects in parallel the four unit transistors (replicaaccess transistors) UATr that are arranged around (upper, lower, rightand left) of the crossing of third metal interconnection line 165forming the word line and second metal interconnection line 160 (160a-160 c) forming the control signal line. By increasing the number ofthe control signal lines, it is possible to increase further the numberof the unit transistors that are selected simultaneously per word line.FIG. 51 shows an example of the interconnection layout in which each ofcontrol signals SM<0>, SM<1> and LSM selects four unit transistors(replica access transistors) UATr per word line. By using a plurality ofgate electrodes arranged in rows and columns, one contact/via cantransmit the select signal to a plurality of gate electrodes, and onecontrol signal line can select concurrently a plurality of unittransistors per word line.

FIG. 52 shows a layout of the third and fourth metal interconnectionlines according to the seventh embodiment of the invention. FIG. 52 alsoshows the layout of gate electrodes 150.

In FIG. 52, fourth metal interconnection lines 170 extending linearly inthe column direction are arranged alternately in the planar layout withsecond metal interconnection lines 160 a-160 c in FIG. 51. Fourth metalinterconnection line 170 is electrically connected through a via 172 tothird metal interconnection line 167 arranged in the correspondingcolumn. Fourth metal interconnection line 170 transmits cell groundvoltage VSS. Therefore, vias 166 for third metal interconnection lines165 and vias 172 for third metal interconnection lines 167 are arrangedfor each fourth metal interconnection line 170, being aligned andalternately in the column direction. In the column direction, four unittransistors UATr are arranged for vias 166 and 172. Two unit transistors(replica access transistors) UATr are arranged between vias 172 adjacentin the column direction.

Accordingly, the layout of the unit transistors for pull-down includingconnections to interconnection lines in the upper layer can besubstantially the same as the layout of the access transistors of thememory cell, and the replica transistors of the access transistors ofthe memory cell can be accurately formed. Similarly to the layout of thememory cells, the interconnection lines merely extend linearly in therow or column direction, which simplifies the layout, and allowsaccurate patterning in the manufacturing process for manufacturing thereplica transistors of the access transistors of the memory cells.

FIG. 53 shows an electrically equivalent circuit of pull-down element PDtogether with electrically equivalent circuits of memory cells MCa andMCb. FIG. 53 shows arrangements of two control signal lines SMa and SMbas well as the unit transistors in pull-down element PD arranged forword lines WLa and WLb.

In pull-down element PD shown in FIG. 53, N-channel MOS transistorsRQ0-RQ2 coupled to a common ground line 170 a are aligned in one column,MOS transistors RQ3 and RQ5 are aligned in one column, and MOStransistors RQ2 and RQ8 are aligned in one column.

Each of MOS transistors RQ0-RQ5 receives on its gate a control signalSMs via a control signal line 160 s. Each of MOS transistors RQ6-RQ8receives, on its gate, a control signal SMt through a control signalline 160 t.

MOS transistors RQ1, RQ2, RQ4 and RQ5 arranged between word lines WLaand WLb are coupled to control signal line 160 s through a sharedcontact and a via, and MOS transistors RQ7 and RQ8 are coupled tocontrol signal line 160 t through a shared contact and a via. In thiscase, MOS transistors RQ1 and RQ2 are coupled to ground line 170 athrough a shared contact and a via, and MOS transistors RQ4, RQ5, RQ7and RQ8 are coupled to a cell ground line 170 b through a common via anda common contact.

A required number of MOS transistors RQ0-RQ8 are arranged in rows andcolumns, and are supplied with corresponding control signals.

Control signals SMs and SMt are included in control signal group SMG.When control signals SMs and SMt are the same control signal, eight unittransistors can be selected concurrently per word line.

Memory cell MCa includes access transistors ATaa and ATab that areturned on according to the signal on word line WLa, thereby to coupleinternal flip-flop FF to bit lines BL and /BL, respectively. Memory cellMCb includes access transistors ATba and ATbb that are turned onaccording to the signal potential on word line WLb, thereby to coupleflip-flop FF to bit lines BL and /BL, respectively.

MOS transistors RQ0-RQ8 have the same layout in connection with the gateelectrodes as access transistors ATaa, ATba, ATab and ATbb. Therefore,MOS transistors RQ0-RQ8 have the same electric characteristics as accesstransistors ATaa, ATab, ATba and ATbb. When variations occur inthreshold voltage of memory cells MCa and MCb due to variations inmanufacturing parameters, similar variations occur in threshold voltageof MOS transistors RQ0-RQ8 due to reflection of similar variations inmanufacturing parameters (e.g., misalignment of mask, and variations inimpurity concentration and others), and the voltage level of theselected word line can be adjusted according to the operationcharacteristics of the memory cells thus determined.

As described above, the pull-down element is formed of the replicatransistors of the access transistors of the memory cell. The unittransistors (replica access transistors) of pull-down element PD aremanufactured in the same manufacturing steps as the memory cell inmanufacturing process of the memory cells. Thus, the replica accesstransistors can be formed with the same layout and under the same gateelectrode conditions as the access transistors of the memory cells. Evenwhen variations occur in manufacturing parameters of the memory cell,the same variations can be reflected in the replica access transistors.Therefore, a selected word line can be set to the voltage levelreflecting the variations in manufacturing parameters. Thus, the readmargin can be ensured, and the writing and reading of data can be stablyperformed.

Pull-down element PD does not employ a dummy cell, but employs only thereplica transistors of the access transistors, so that the arrangementarea of pull-down element PD can be reduced.

In the foregoing description, both pull-down element PD for improvingthe read margin and the write assist array power supply circuitperforming write assistance are employed. Thereby, the write margin canbe stably ensured even in the construction of pulling down the voltagelevel of a selected word line. However, the write assist cell powersupply circuit may be solely arranged independently of the pull-downelement. The write margin can be reliably increased.

[Eight Embodiment]

FIG. 54 shows a construction of a main portion of a semiconductor memorydevice according to an eighth embodiment of the invention. Thesemiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 54 differs from thesemiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 28 in the followingconstructions. A plurality of level shifters LSFN0, LSFN1, . . . arearranged corresponding to driver power supply lines DPL0-DPLi that arearranged corresponding to word line groups WG0-WGi, respectively. Eachof level shifters LSFN0, LSFN1, . . . includes one or more transistors(replica access transistors UATr) similar to the access transistors inmemory cell MC. The unit transistor in each of level shifters LSFN0,LSFN1, . . . operates in a resistance mode, and pulls down the voltagelevel of the corresponding driver power supply line (through resistancedivision).

In driver power supply line precharge circuits DPG0-DPGi, a P-channelMOS transistor PQ32 is selectively turned on according to an outputsignal of an NAND circuit NG10 receiving upper predecode signals,thereby to couple corresponding driver power supply line DPL to thepower supply node.

Other constructions of the semiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 54are the same as those of the semiconductor memory device shown in FIG.28. Corresponding portions are allotted with the same referencenumerals, and description thereof is not repeated.

Each of word line groups WG0-WGi is selected when corresponding upperpredecode signals XH and XM are both at the H level. Therefore, thedriver power supply line corresponding to a selected word line group iselectrically coupled to the power supply node. For an unselected wordline group, driver power supply line DPL is isolated from the powersupply node, and is maintained at the ground voltage level by levelshifters LSFN0 and LSFN1. Thus, it is possible to prevent flow of aleakage current through the unselected word line group via the word linedrivers, so that the current consumption can be reduced, and the currentconsumption during standby can be reduced.

By arranging the pull-down level shifter for the driver power supplyline, the elements can be reduced in number as compared with theconstruction employing the pull-down element for each word line, and theincrease in array area can be suppressed.

FIGS. 55A and 55B show an example of constructions of level shiftersLSFN0 and LSFN1 shown in FIG. 54. In FIG. 55A, each level shifter LSFN(LSFN0 or LSFN1) includes an N-channel MOS transistor RQ10 connectedbetween corresponding driver power supply line DPLs and the ground nodeand having a gate coupled to the power supply node. MOS transistor RQ10is formed of the transistor (replica access transistor) UATr of the samelayout as the access transistor of the memory cell, and reflects thefluctuations in threshold voltage of the access transistor of the memorycell. The transistor has a gate coupled to the power supply node, and isnormally on, so that it operates as a resistance element due to itschannel resistance (on-resistance).

Level shifter LSFN shown in FIG. 55B includes an N-channel MOStransistor RQ11 having a gate and a drain coupled together tocorresponding driver power supply line DPLs, and also having a sourcecoupled to the ground node. MOS transistor RQ11 has the same layout asthe access transistor of the memory cell, and reflects the fluctuationsin threshold voltage of the N-channel MOS transistor of the memory cell.MOS transistor RQ11 has the gate and drain connected with each other,and operates in a resistance mode to lower the voltage level ofcorresponding driver power supply line DPL.

FIG. 56 shows electrical connections of driver power supply lineprecharge circuit DPG, level shifter LSFN and the word line driver for acorresponding driver power supply line DPL in the selected word linegroup. In FIG. 56, MOS transistor PQ32 in the driver power supply lineprecharge circuit has an on-resistance Rp. MOS transistor (PQ10 or PQ11)in the level shifter has an on-resistance Rn. Driver power supply lineDPLi is coupled to word line WL via MOS transistor PQ30 of the word linedriver. A potential V(ND10) of a source node ND10 (driver power supplyline) of the word line driver transistor is represented by the followingequation:V(ND10)=VDD·Rn/(Rp+Rn)=VDD/(1+(Rp/Rn)).

When the threshold voltage of the access transistor in the memory cellincreases, the current driving power decreases and accordingly, theconductance decreases. In this case, the resistance value of resistanceRn increases. Thus, potential V(ND10) of source node ND10 of the drivertransistor increases, and the potential on selected word line WL rises.In the state where the threshold voltage of the access transistor in thememory cell is high, the current driving power of the access transistoris small, and the static noise margin of the memory cell is sufficientlyensured and the storage data of the memory cell is stably held even whenthe potential of the selected word line is high. In this case, theon-resistance of the MOS transistor in level shifter LSFN is high, andthe excessive drop of the voltage level of the selected word line can besuppressed.

Conversely, when the threshold voltage of the access transistor in thememory cell lowers, the current driving power increases and theconductance increases accordingly. In this case, the resistance value ofresistance Rn lowers. Accordingly, the potential of source node ND10 ofthe driver transistor lowers, and the potential of the selected wordline lowers. The current driving power of the access transistor in thememory cell transistor decreases, and the static noise margin of thememory cell increases.

Accordingly, the power supply voltage of the word line driver is loweredby using the resistance-dividing circuit that utilizes theon-resistances of MOS transistors PQ32 and RQ10 (or RQ11). By adjustingon-resistances Rp and Rn of these transistors, the selected word linecan be set to the optimum voltage level according to the static noisemargin of the memory cell, and the data can be read stably even with alow power supply voltage.

In the data write operation, when the threshold voltage of the accesstransistors in the memory cell is low, the write margin of the memorycell is large, and a sufficient write margin can be ensured to achievefast data writing even when the voltage on the selected word line islow. When the threshold voltage of the access transistor in the memorycell is high, the write margin lowers due to lowering of the voltagelevel of the selected word line. In this state, however, lowering of thevoltage level of the selected word line is suppressed in the abovestate, and the deterioration of the write margin is suppressed so thatfast writing can be achieved.

In the above description, the replica access transistor is used for thecomponent transistor of level shifter LSFN. However, for the levelshifter, there may be used the transistor (replica drive transistor)that has the same layout as the drive transistor of the memory cell andhas characteristics varying closely in linkage with the characteristicsof the drive transistor, in which case a similar effect can be achieved.

As shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, each level shifter LSFN may include aplurality of access/driver replica transistors, which are selectively orfixedly set to the on state by a control signals or a maskinterconnection.

Further, a write assist power supply circuit may be employed, and may becombined with the level shifter to adjust the static noise margin andthe write margin of the memory cell.

According to the eighth embodiment of the invention, as described above,a level shifter for pull-down is arranged for the driver power supplyline, to shift down the voltage of the driver power supply linecorresponding to the selected word line group. Therefore, the staticnoise margin and write margin of the memory cell can be improved withoutincreasing the array area, and it is possible to provide thesemiconductor memory device that can stably perform fast reading andwriting of data even with a low power supply voltage.

The invention can be generally applied to the semiconductor memorydevice having static memory cells, and particularly can be applied to astatic semiconductor memory device using a low power supply voltage forlow power consumption, whereby the static semiconductor memory deviceoperating stably with low power consumption can be achieved.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated indetail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustrationand example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spiritand scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor memory device comprising: aplurality of static memory cells arranged in rows and columns, eachmemory cell including, in a data storage portion, a load transistorconnected to a cell power supply node and a drive transistor connectedin series to said load transistor; a plurality of word lines, arrangedcorresponding to the respective memory cell rows, each connected to thememory cells in a corresponding row; a plurality of word line driversarranged corresponding to the respective word lines; and a power supplycircuit for supplying a memory cell supply voltage to the plurality ofstatic memory cells; wherein a word line driver supply voltage issupplied to the plurality of word line drivers; each of the plurality ofword line drivers includes a level shift element and an invertercircuit, the level shift element (i) shifts the word line driver supplyvoltage independently, without responding to the signal on the wordline, and (ii) supplies to the inverter circuit, and the invertercircuit outputs an output voltage lower than the word line driver supplyvoltage, wherein the output voltage is lower than the memory cell supplyvoltage, and wherein the level shift element is formed of a transistorelement (i) having threshold voltage characteristics similar to those ofthe load transistor, and (ii) of a same conductivity type as the loadtransistor.
 2. The semiconductor memory device according to claim 1,wherein the transistor element comprises a plurality of unit transistorsarranged in parallel with each other.
 3. The semiconductor memory deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the memory cell supply voltage is set tothe same voltage level as the word line driver supply voltage.
 4. Asemiconductor memory device, comprising: a plurality of static memorycells arranged in rows and columns, each of the static memory cellsincluding, in a data storage portion, a load transistor connected to acell power supply node and a drive transistor connected in series to theload transistor; a plurality of word lines, arranged corresponding tothe respective memory cell rows, each connected to the static memorycells in a corresponding row; a plurality of word line drivers arrangedcorresponding to the respective word lines; and a power supply circuitfor supplying a memory cell supply voltage to the plurality of staticmemory cells; wherein a word line driver supply voltage is supplied tothe plurality of word line drivers; each of the word line driversincludes a level shift element and an inverter circuit, the level shiftelement shifts the word line driver supply voltage and supplies to theinvertor circuit, and the inverter circuit outputs an output voltagelower than the word line driver supply voltage, wherein the memory cellsupply voltage is set to the same voltage level as the word line driversupply voltage, wherein the output voltage is lower than the memory cellsupply voltage, and wherein the level shift element is formed of atransistor element (i) having threshold voltage characteristics similarto those of the load transistor, and (ii) of a same conductivity type asthe load transistor.